Today, Radio NZ reported:
Typical of National to ignore what will become a real and pressing issue for New Zealand. Many of our townships and cities are next to the ocean and will be greatly effected by even a small rise in sea levels.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently projected that during the 21st century the sea level will continue to rise, with unchecked GHG emissions at or above current rates meaning one meter increase to sea levels is well within the range of projections.
The head in the sand denial by the National party will ensure New Zealand is ill equipped to deal with the effects of climate change. Their inaction to implement climate change mitigation will assuredly cost us dearly. What a bunch of goobers!
The Government is dropping a proposal that would require councils to meet a national standard when planning for sea level rise.
The standard was meant to streamline planning and provide reliable guidance to local authorities about their future environment.
The Ministry for the Environment had been looking at compelling local authorities to plan for a sea level rise of 50 - 80 centimetres by the end of the century.
It said the national standard could reduce the cost and time to councils of working out sea level changes and might reduce their exposure to lawsuits brought by people who disagreed with their calculations.
The ministry now says it believes local councils are best placed to assess the risk and plan for future sea level rises in their specific areas and has no plans to advance the proposed standard.
Typical of National to ignore what will become a real and pressing issue for New Zealand. Many of our townships and cities are next to the ocean and will be greatly effected by even a small rise in sea levels.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently projected that during the 21st century the sea level will continue to rise, with unchecked GHG emissions at or above current rates meaning one meter increase to sea levels is well within the range of projections.
The head in the sand denial by the National party will ensure New Zealand is ill equipped to deal with the effects of climate change. Their inaction to implement climate change mitigation will assuredly cost us dearly. What a bunch of goobers!
