Greenpeace Aotearoa says the National Party’s latest transport policy will lock the world into more climate disasters, as the Party signals it will build more highways and scrap planned public transport infrastructure if elected.

Greenpeace campaigner, Christine Rose, says "The National Party’s transport plan is a highway to hell. It totally fails to address one of our most polluting sectors, which is already responsible for accelerating the climate disasters we’re seeing here and overseas. New Zealanders need free and accessible low emissions transport options, not more roads."

"We’re in the midst of a climate crisis, and we’ve seen that first hand this year. Extreme weather events, worsened by climate change - Cyclone Gabrielle, the Auckland Anniversary floods, and the severe drought in the South Island - defined our summer, and they’ll define this year’s election as well.

"We need investment in infrastructure that serves people, not cars," says Rose. "New Zealand’s transport systems must support high density communities, and prioritise safe and accessible walking, cycling, and public transport over roads."

This is one of the calls in the ten-point plan for climate action that Greenpeace, alongside more than 40 other NGOs, launched in June. The plan, known as Climate Shift, calls for all political parties to take urgent action this election that guarantees real emissions reductions, supports frontline communities, and restores and rewilds nature.

"This election will be a climate election," says Rose. "Everyone has the right to a safe and stable climate and healthy environment, and the National Party’s transport policy actively undermines that. All political parties must get serious about climate change by tackling NZ’s biggest polluters - agriculture, energy, and transport - and adopt all ten points outlined in the Climate Shift plan."

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