Tens of Thousands of Homes Face Climate Flooding Disaster

Thursday, 19 November 2015, 1:04 pm
Press Release: Greenpeace New Zealand

Tens of Thousands of Homes Face Climate Flooding Disaster: Greenpeace Response

Responding to today’s report showing an anticipated increase in sea levels could force tens of thousands of New Zealand families out of their homes and cost tens of billions of dollars, Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman said:

“This report doesn’t so much show that climate change is going to end up on our doorsteps, it’s going to end up, literally, right in our living rooms.

“Tens of thousands of families face their houses being flooded, and our economy could face a bill running into tens of billions of dollars.

“Instead of tackling this problem, the government is doing less than bugger all. They should be backing clean, non-polluting energy 100 per cent. But they’re fawning over foreign oil companies, and helping drive the very pollution that is leading to our seas rising, and threatening the very places we live.

“The government have utterly failed to deal with this, and their continued failure is nothing short of a slap in the face for the families who could be driven from their homes.”

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment report, released today and called Preparing New Zealand for Rising Seas, calls for a cut in climate change emissions and an overhaul of the way New Zealand is preparing for sea level rise.

ENDS

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