Carbon budgeting legislation needed – Generation Zero
Youth climate change organisation Generation Zero has reissued its call for carbon budgeting legislation following New Zealand’s signing of the Paris Agreement yesterday.
Spokesperson Nina Atkinson said: “Following the Paris Agreement, establishing a proper carbon budgeting process in New Zealand is more necessary than ever.”
“Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett’s recent comments about the need for a long-term plan for a low carbon economy are very encouraging.”
“Doing this properly will take time and resources, and needs to ultimately deliver the right policy and legal framework so that the plan is credible and durable.”
“The UK Climate Change Act is a model for how a plan like this can be created, enforced and monitored.”
Generation Zero called for New Zealand to adopt similar carbon budgeting legislation in its 2014 report, The Big Ask: One Key Step For Real Climate Action.
The UK process involves enshrining a 2050 emissions reduction target in law, setting 5-yearly carbon budgets in line with a least-cost pathway to the 2050 target, and mandates that the government produce regular plans showing how it will meet the carbon budgets.
Also critical to the process is the establishment of an independent climate commission (the UK Committee on Climate Change) which provides expert technical and policy analysis, recommends carbon budgets, and reports on the government’s progress.
“The process maintains flexibility on the ‘how’ but helps ensure the government of the day has a credible plan, and it’s a stepping stone to achieving consensus on how fast we need to decarbonise our economy,” said Ms Atkinson.
Professor Jim Skea, a founding member of the UK Committee on Climate Change, will be visiting New Zealand next week at the invitation of the Royal Society of New Zealand and delivering public talks in Wellington and Auckland. Details of Professor Jim Skea’s visit can be found at http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/events/solution-science/
“Climate change is the greatest threat facing us, and as young people we demand a plan that respects and protects our future,” said Ms Atkinson.
Generation Zero?
I call them generation omega, as in the last generation )
CONCLUSION:
We require 10X the fossil electrical grid energy we use now just to solve 18% of the emissions problem with solar & wind power. This also means that even if we use 100% efficient Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) for all the world’s electricity generation, we would still only prevent 18% of our emissions. 100% efficient CCS is very unlikely. Switching to electric vehicles would only double electrical demand while most of our roads are made out of distilled oil sludge.
https://lokisrevengeblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/24/no-soil-water-before-100-renwable-energy/
Thank you for your very learner’d reply. I’ll have to mention that at the next climate conference or have you done that already?
Easy to use rail as it doesn’t use bitchmen or oil based tyres either!!!!!!!
So use rail because it is just a win win all around.
more fuel efficient carrying the same payload folks.
3 to 5 times less carbon emissions to move same freight also and make roads safer and use less bitchmen.
So why are we not lessening our emissions now?????
http://www.freightarranger.co.uk/rail-freight-benefits
“Rail’s carbon advantage arises from a number of factors, the main one being that there is almost no friction involved in a metal wheel running on a metal rail; conversely a tyre made largely of rubber encounters a higher level of friction when in contact with an asphalt/tarmac road. Railway gradients have been smoothed out to a greater extent than roads, and there are fewer stops. On average, rail freight emits just 33% of the CO2 of an equivalent journey by road.”