* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
If we all act decisively we still have a window to limit warming to 1.5C
James Shaw is the co-leader of New Zealand’s Green Party and the country’s Minister for Climate Change.
The New Zealand Government has put a significant pioneering piece of climate change legislation before Parliament. The Zero Carbon Bill would make New Zealand one of the first countries in the world to place a 1.5 degrees C temperature limit into law and set out how the country would meet that goal.
The Zero Carbon Bill is our response to the greatest challenge of our time and perhaps of all time, avoiding the catastrophic consequences of inaction on climate change. We are already facing extreme weather, unprecedented rates of biodiversity loss, and climate-related risks to the health of our citizens and our economy. The science in last year’s IPCC 1.5°C report was clear: the world is much less worse off at 1.5C than at 2C, and we must reach net zero carbon emissions globally by 2050 to limit warming to 1.5C.
The Zero Carbon Bill is designed to help guide New Zealand’s domestic economic transformation. The 2050 targets it sets will drive near-term decision making and contribute to the global environmental effort under the Paris Agreement. Legislating these targets through the Bill makes them even stronger.
None of this is easy. The question of what the emissions targets should be, and how the effort needed to achieve our targets should be shared across the economy have been the subject of much public debate. The New Zealand Government is determined to support people and sectors that face significant change and leave no one behind through the transition to come.
I am encouraged by strong signals of a growing consensus on climate action. It’s not just the tens of thousands of New Zealand school students who have taken to the street to call on the government to safeguard their future. Across the New Zealand Parliament, for instance, all parties have constructively engaged in developing this landmark legislation – which signals a shared, enduring commitment to action on climate change for future generations.
The Zero Carbon Bill owes a significant debt to the United Kingdom’s 2008 Climate Change Act, and we’re grateful to the UK experts and policymakers who shared their knowledge and experience. We want to take our experience with the Zero Carbon Bill and pay it forward, encouraging a just global transition to zero carbon emissions through initiatives like the Carbon Neutrality Coalition and Powering Past Coal Alliance.
So far, it’s been a busy year in New Zealand for climate action. But every year has to be a busy year – for every country. September’s UNSG Climate Action Summit will provide a platform for leaders to put forward their contribution to a zero carbon future. If we all act decisively, the science tells us, we still have a window to limit warming to 1.5C. 2020 will be the first major test for the Paris Agreement, but strong global action must start now.
New Zealand’s Zero Carbon Bill law shows how we are turning the promise of the Paris Agreement into meaningful action. We hope other countries will do the same.
