What a load of cowshit.
This middle class yawnfest won’t save us from climate change and it is sophistry to pretend being Carbon Neutral in 30 years is somehow a solution to the greatest existential threat facing us.!
The suggestions are all things we should have been doing a decade ago, so all the trumpeting to do very little is eye rolling.
‘The Government will not hold back’: Jacinda Ardern on how NZ could go zero carbon
“We can’t continue to postpone what we need to do to reach our goals,” said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, at an announcement at which she committed to meet the budgets. Delaying would mean pushing the budern to future generations, she said. “The Government will not hold back”.
It won’t be hard to hold back because it’s all incredibly tepid.
Yes, planting native trees, stopping petrol cars, no more gas, more bikes blah blah blah – all fine and dandy but the end goal of being Carbon Neutral by 2050 is pointless so these measures don’t really do anything!
This report represents nothing more than tinkering and it reeks of the Green Party Market dynamics capitalism crap that they love so much.
Labour, the Greens and the Climate Change Commission all seem to believe they can go on doing business as usual. There’s nothing stopping synthetic nitrogen, imported palm kernel, blood phosphate or any real plan to reduce cow numbers for a sunset meat and milk industry that will be utterly destroyed once synthetic meat and milk are available!
There’s no preparing for the need to have a adaptable economy or to build up our military to deal with the catastrophes we face.
NZs goal at the moment is to be carbon neutral by 2050, but that’s like trying to put out your house fire by mowing your lawn.
By 2030, over 50% of the oceans will be collapsing as bio-habitats.
By 2030, East Coast cities in the U.S. can expect to see two to three-times as many flooding incidents.
By 2030, 122million will be driven into extreme poverty as direct result of climate change.
By 2030, 100million will die as a direct consequence of climate change.
By 2030, even if the Paris Agreement is actually implemented, we will see a planet warm to 3.4 degrees by the end of this century meaning there will effectively be no future civilisation capable of surviving on a planet that warm.
By 2030, the global annual cost of global warming will be $3trillion.
2030, the number of extremely hot days — classified as maximum temperatures of more than 35C — are tipped to climb in all capital cities.
But don’t fret.
By 2050 NZ might be carbon neutral.
Yay?
This. Is. Meaningless!
If you think being carbon neutral by 2050 is the solution, you are the fucking problem!
We are going through a temperature rising event globally right now DESPITE this being the La Nina cycle, which means when it crosses into the El Nino we are facing real dangers…
Climate change: 2020 set to be second-hottest year on record
“2020 has, unfortunately, been yet another extraordinary year for our climate,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas, urging more efforts to curb the emissions.
Greenhouse gas concentrations climbed to a new record in 2019 and have risen so far this year despite an expected drop in emissions due to COVID-19 lockdowns, the WMO said last month.
The latest WMO report said the global mean temperature was around 1.2C above the 1850-1900 baseline between January and October this year, placing it second behind 2016 and marginally ahead of 2019.
Hot years have typically been associated with El Niño, a natural event that releases heat from the Pacific Ocean. However, this year coincides with La Niña which has the opposite effect and cools temperatures.
…personally I believe we are beyond the tipping point where we can stop climate change and that we are left with rapid and radical adaptation as the only way forward.
The rapid and radical adaptation however is beyond the ability of the current neoliberal political spectrum.
This pandemic is a universal experience, the shock waves of which are fracturing the free market certainties the entire hegemonic economic framework has been built upon.
An enormous cultural, economic and political backlash is building and the naked reality is that the climate crisis will be far worse than this pandemic we currently tremble from.
Spending billions on trying to rebuild ‘normal’ is fucking absurd when the market ‘normal’ was what made this pandemic erupt in the first place.
Destruction of natural biospheres alongside jowl to cheek over population and global trade exacerbated this pandemic but the climate crisis will make these 1 in a 100 year events become 1 every 10 years.
JP Morgan economists warn climate crisis is threat to human race
The world’s largest financier of fossil fuels has warned clients that the climate crisis threatens the survival of humanity and that the planet is on an unsustainable trajectory, according to a leaked document.
The JP Morgan report on the economic risks of human-caused global heating said climate policy had to change or else the world faced irreversible consequences.
The study implicitly condemns the US bank’s own investment strategy and highlights growing concerns among major Wall Street institutions about the financial and reputational risks of continued funding of carbon-intensive industries, such as oil and gas.
JP Morgan has provided $75bn (£61bn) in financial services to the companies most aggressively expanding in sectors such as fracking and Arctic oil and gas exploration since the Paris agreement, according to analysis compiled for the Guardian last year.
The current political spectrum in New Zealand can not radically adapt fast enough to adopt the changes we must make if we are to survive the climate crisis. It will require a radical Political Movement that elects a Party to implement Fortress Aotearoa…
- Move away from intensive farming and look to become domestically self sustainable in terms of food.
- Immediately ban all water exports
- 5 year Parliamentary term.
- Upper and Lower House (Upper House 50-50 split between Māori & Pakeha that can hold up legislation if unhappy about Treaty issues)
- Massive investment into R&D from Government with the understanding research is to benefit NZ first before sold offshore.
- Large scale increase in Navy, Army & Airforce.
- Mass limiting of tourism numbers with increased tourist taxes.
- Only citizens can vote.
- Sustainable immigration and an end to exploitative migrant workers.
- Resettlement Programms for all pacific island neighbours.
- Increase refugee in take to 10 000 per year
- Fully funded public services.
- Mass Green housing rebuild.
- 100% renewable energy for entire country.
- Massive tree planting across previous farming land.
- Wholesale re-write of state services act to end commercial values.
- Investment into basic pharmaceutical production.
- Financial transaction tax
- Wealth tax
- Multinational tax
- Inheritance tax
On a rapidly warming planet, NZ will increasingly be the life boat for Earth and the tyranny of our distance will become our blessing.
As the climate crisis unfolds more and more people in fury will turn against the current political system too wedded to the economic profits margins of the polluters. It is just a matter of time before the NZ electorate rejects the limitations of the current political spectrum.
The only thing that makes the Carbon Zero Act ‘historic’ is the future generations who will look back in spite & anger that we thought this sophistry was a legitimate response to the climate crisis –maybe acting in 31 years isn’t a solution.
Right now there are 22,000 desperate Kiwi’s waiting on social housing lists and 1 in 5 children live in poverty – don’t tell me a virtue signalling climate emergency that doesn’t actually trigger the emergency powers of a Civil Defence is a legitimate response to the climate and social challenges we actually face.
- In 2010, the 388 richest individuals owned more wealth than half of the entire human population on Earth
- By 2015, this number was reduced to only 62 individuals
- In 2018, it was 42
- In 2019, it was down to only 26 individuals who own more wealth than 3.8 billion people.
This isn’t a democracy, it’s fast becoming a feudal plutocracy on a burning planet!
Every aspect of our existence is monetarised for big data to sell us more stuff we can’t afford. We are alienated and anesthetized by a consumer culture that keeps us neurotic and disconnected. Our work, our existence, every move we make are all built to suck money to a minority class that sits above us while under neoliberalism, globalization, financialization and automation make our existence as individuals only more disposable.
NZ will be one of the few lifeboats left and we need to start accepting that as global warming gets worse and worse.
In 2023, for the first time in NZ history, Gen x + Gen Y + Millennials will be a larger voting block than the boomers.
2023 is our date for revolution comrades.
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The Climate Change Commission report has just two purposes:
1. to lie to the scientifically illiterate and scientifically uninformed (i.e. 99% of the population) in order to keep the consumer society running as long as possible as a component of the Ponzi economic system.
2. to meet arbitrary targets that will achieve nothing in terms of preventing ultra-rapid Planetary Meltdown.
As ‘The Climate Change Commission is an independent Crown entity that was established in December 2019.’
https://ccc-production-media.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/public/evidence/advice-report-DRAFT-1ST-FEB/ADVICE/CCC-ADVICE-TO-GOVT-31-JAN-2021-pdf.pdf
it naturally follows that its advice:
1. is totally biased towards business as usual
2. has the wrong values for forcing factors
3. is unreliable insofar as it ignores crucial factors such as positive feedbacks and the collapse of the global oil sector (leading to collapse of current economic arrangements) over the next decade or so.
This says it all:
‘Dr Rod Carr, Chairperson
Dr Carr has extensive experience in both public and private sector governance and leadership. He served as Chair and non-executive director of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and served as Deputy Governor and for a time Acting Governor of the Bank. Dr Carr was the founding Chair of the National Infrastructure Advisory Board and for over a decade was a non-executive director of the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce. He led the University of Canterbury as Vice Chancellor for ten years, and holds a PhD in Insurance and Risk Management, an MA in Applied Economics and Managerial Science, an MBA in Money and Finance and honours degrees in law and economics.’
So we have a lawyer-come-economist heading up the most important commission ever. And we all know what lawyers and economists are like. Unreliable fuckwits who have acquired a stranglehold on society, most of them.
‘Professor Shadbolt is a farmer, forester, director and academic. As the recently appointed Chairperson of Plant and Food Research and former Director of Fonterra Cooperative Group and Transit New Zealand, Professor Shadbolt has a strong understanding of implementing sustainability in businesses and a keen appreciation of how environmental management fits alongside social and economic imperatives.’
I do have time for James Renwick, of course.
But, as always, it’s the economists and ‘sustainability in businesses’ and ‘economic imperatives’ that rule the roost. And we all know what a shocking mess economists have made of everything!
Despite the declaration:
‘We are seeking feedback on our draft advice before it is finalised. There are matters of fact,
assumptions and value judgments we invite you to review. We are committed to true consultation.
We will consider all evidence we receive through consultation and are prepared to change any part of our work in light of this.’
It’s all a rigged game and public submissions will be ignored, as is standard practice for all government so-called consultation. I’m sure they will do what THEY want to do and ignore the scientific reality of our predicament.
The coming MONTHS are going to be particularly interesting, with Arctic sea ice at a record low and on track for a record low in September, with the American economy in free-fall, and with most of the rest of the world to varying degrees a shambles, with the ‘peasants’ revolting all over the place.
Yes these measures are weak and timid. But let’s admit it, they wont hit these targets either.
And in the mean time, the housing and rent crisis gets worse. Let’s have some real vision and action where it’s needed rather than virtue signalling and attention seeking.
Correct. It astounds me how many are just content with Ardern getting on top of Covid-19. They dont care about true progressive policies as long as this is achieved. The strongest mandate we have had in decades and we will piss it away on no meaningful change or transformation. What a waste.
Sadly that’s what Blaire’ites do……
As I write the chair of the Climate Change commission is being interviewed on RNZ National: “We need to stop doing what we are doing and transition over time to more sustainable practices”.
On the face of it a sound imperative. What then, to a good many, makes this imperative sound hollow? Is the use of the pronoun “we” by those with power implying everyone is to blame? After all, “they” fucked it up, right, by intensifying the exploitation of natural resources, expanding industrial capitalism and sucking everyone into the ideology of commodity fetishism. But let’s face it: whether we like it or not most if not all of us are all complicit in the mess we find ourselves in. We are part of the problem. A good many people may lie outside the problem , like when your daily income is around $1 a day what kind of environmental footprint can you leave? But for the prosperous there is no escaping the complicity.
If changing what are currently doing won’t cut the mustard what will? Is it that “ what we are doing” simply isn’t fully acknowledged –and the changes needed require a paradigm shift, not so called smart thinking that promises to mitigate the consequences of our economic practices? The tyranny of reason is that humans are now faced with digging themselves out of a hole. The hole of course is the existential threat that climate change poses. The absurdity is that digging deeper will never work.
Extreme drought fears in Hawke’s Bay after streams dramatically dry up
Streams in Hawke’s Bay have dried up after being deep enough to swim just one week ago, stoking fears of another drought.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/435391/extreme-drought-fears-in-hawke-s-bay-after-streams-dramatically-dry-up?fbclid=IwAR0Z6UzFYXdcLJqvbU6IqSxNjdAdHxxC_XnuzTIqKEawxG0TlYmK6Lgtq58
You’re right in your sentiments on this olive branch report Martyn.
It’s just more woke virtue signalling from Jacinda and Co. and is not much more than tinkering with business as usual.
I agree that we may well be past the point of no return in terms of dealing with this climate change crisis, due to the ignorance, arrogance, inaction and deregulation that has come with successive governments, neoliberalism and corporate capitalist societies.
Where does TPP, and council/ government narrative of continuous growth fit into this insanity? Interesting times.
Q. Where does TPP, and council/ government narrative of continuous growth fit into this insanity?
A. Killing the planet faster…. and allowing those who made money killing their own countries to buy up land and residency in others and therefore not be accountable for the state of their own countries and communities.
I think is shows how deeply undemocratic the current crop of politicians’ are, and have been for some time.
The continued lack of any movement on this issue has only one result, collapse and the rise of totalitarian states to attempt to deal with the business of survival. NZ will be a eco-fascist state by 2030.
It would have been nice to live my twilight years knowing my mokopuna would have a future – but that is fast becoming a false hope. One made worse by US led Christian fundamentalism, hell bent on creating the end of the world.
With a low bar it’s now a tough call to activate anyone – like your local council. They’ll just say they’re working to the 2050 targets. It just got harder.
“*Sustainable immigration and an end to exploitative migrant workers.
Resettlement Programms for all pacific island neighbours.
Increase refugee in take to 10 000 per year”
“*NZ will be one of the few lifeboats left and we need to start accepting that as global warming gets worse and worse”.
These two sets of objectives are mutually exclusive. What are we to be? A nation that will have to be willing to fight to keep millions of refugees at bay? or a nation that is foolish enough to open arms to all the millions of refugees and immigrants who covet our land. If you dont know what the out come of all this is, ask a few maoris.
“*Sustainable immigration and an end to exploitative migrant workers.
Resettlement Programms for all pacific island neighbours.
Increase refugee in take to 10 000 per year”
“*NZ will be one of the few lifeboats left and we need to start accepting that as global warming gets worse and worse”.
These two sets of objectives are mutually exclusive. What are we to be? A nation that will have to be willing to fight to keep millions of refugees at bay? or a nation that is foolish enough to open arms to all the millions of refugees and immigrants who covet our land. If you dont know what the out come of all this is, ask a few maoris.
yep, agree. this list is more of a whip-around of kneejerks to satisfy the left/pc brigade than a true platform for isolationism. inclusion of it degrades the thrust of the text. could do MUCH better. Martyn note.
A lot of doomer talk here.
You’re all assuming that the electorate will allow an amped up climate change programme on steroids. The reality is if we can’t get the boomers to sort housing out then there is no way we will land a radical climate change agenda especially with the Australians maintaining their head in the sand approach. Better to boil the frog over time to create and embed sustainable change and speed this transition up as the electorate starts to respond to the earlier nudges.
The lefts job is to holla and scream to push the political response to faster and more equitable outcomes. So keep it up 😉
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