In an interview with Q&A this morning, the Prime Minister refused to say whether he would commit to meeting the Paris Agreement, the international climate agreement which commits all countries to act locally to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees.

“Climate commitments aren’t numbers on a page to be toyed with at political whim. They’re hard scientific limits, requiring each country to do our bit for a liveable planet,” says Green Party Co-Leader and spokesperson for Climate Change Chlöe Swarbrick.

“This morning, Christopher Luxon basically told the nation he didn’t care, refusing to commit to meeting the promises we’ve made internationally as recently as last week with his Climate Minister at COP29.

“Change is unfortunately already locked in because of decades of political neglect. We’ve seen the consequences in ever more frequent climate change charged weather events ravaging rural and urban Aotearoa. Political leaders today are actively choosing whether to make that worse, or to act with urgency.

“When the man who styles himself a CEO focussed on targets and deliverables tells you he doesn’t want to commit to meeting the hard scientific limits for our collective survival, he’s telling you he cares more about profit than people or the planet.

“Climate change has been created by extractive, short-term economic thinking exemplified by Christopher Luxon’s so-called leadership.

“A better world is possible.

“Next weekend the Greens will unveil our alternative Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP), which will make crystal clear that we can have an economy that supports people and the planet, instead of exploiting and exhausting both,” says Chlöe Swarbrick.

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