DEGREES of DISASTER

On January 31, the Climate Change Commission published the advice it is planning to give to the Government about how to cut New Zealand’s climate pollution.

You could be forgiven for not having the time to read it, or for getting lost in the more than 800 pages of recommendations and supporting materials put out by the commission. But nothing is likely to affect the future of the country more than what happens next.

The big decisions could influence everything from where people live, how they get there, what food is on the table, what jobs put the food there, and much else, including, of course, the climate and the future of our planet.

The good news is that, thanks to this commission, a lot of very helpful information has been tabled, allowing Kiwis to get a grip on the climate fight and have a say during a consultation period, which closes on March 28.

The commission has supplied many of the ingredients necessary to tackle the climate problem. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has already welcomed the news that dealing with climate change is feasible and shouldn’t cost what was previously thought.

The bad news is that, somewhere amid all those pages, the maths got lost on how much pollution actually needs to be cut. And although there’s some talk of opportunities and incentives, for the most part the main emphasis is on centrally planned regulations that will sow terror in the hearts of those who fear New Zealand becoming a “nanny economy” for environmental reasons.

FLYING INTO TROUBLE

Let’s start with the maths. The Paris Agreement called for limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. John Key’s National-led government ratified the agreement in 2016 and, in 2019, the “Zero Carbon Act” set out a framework to achieve this goal.

That act also created the Climate Change Commission, which is supposed to tell the government how much emissions it should cut in order to be in line with the Paris