Climate change

Oxfam Aotearoa reacts to Lawyers for Climate Action (LCANZI) announcement

July 2, 2021

Lawyers for Climate Action (LCANZI) announced that they will be taking the Climate Change Commission (CCC) and Climate Minister James Shaw to the High Court arguing that the CCC’s report did not recommend climate action consistent with New Zealand’s obligations under the Paris Agreement.

“We support this court action to ensure that New Zealand’s targets and plans to reduce emissions are aligned with the science of what is needed for keeping warming to within 1.5 degrees Celsius. It is critical for those on the frontlines of ever intensifying climate impacts, that New Zealand is playing its part,” said Oxfam Aotearoa Campaign Lead Alex Johnston.

“The Zero Carbon Act and the Paris Agreement set clear expectations of New Zealand contributing to global efforts to 1.5 degrees, and so decisions about what level of action we take must be grounded in the best chance possible keeping to that temperature limit.

“Oxfam has stated before that the current plans are not enough for New Zealand to be contributing its fair share to this effort, and we look forward to seeing the court clarify what the government needs to do.”

Oxfam Aotearoa launches a petition to help farmers curb climate pollution

June 30, 2021

Oxfam kicks-off the campaign with a petition that supporters will sign to get the New Zealand government to help our largest polluting sector – industrial farming – to evolve to sustainable food production.

Recently, the Climate Change Commission released a report that will be used by the government to plan what New Zealand will do to reduce climate pollution and what target to present at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow this year. Despite some progress being made, the government’s current efforts will not do enough to protect us or communities in the Pacific from runaway climate destruction, or make sure that everyone has good, local food in the future.

Large scale, intensive agriculture is responsible for 48% of New Zealand’s climate pollution. Oxfam Aotearoa’s Campaign Lead Alex Johnston says that right now, the government gives unsustainable farming practices a free pass to pollute, and props up an intensive model that treats farms like factories:

“The land is overloaded with cows and chemicals that pollute waterways and cause methane pollution to skyrocket. Farmers across the Pacific are bearing the brunt of this inaction with more frequent superstorms and heightened food insecurity.

“The only way for Aotearoa New Zealand to play our part in keeping within the crucial temperature limit of 1.5°C is if the government does more to reduce farming pollution and help farmers transition to sustainable food production,” says Johnston.

Oxfam Aotearoa’s aim is to push the government to set a bold international target to cut New Zealand’s pollution by 2/3rds by 2030; bring agriculture into the Emissions Trading Scheme so everyone pays the full price for their pollution; and use the revenue to help farmers shift to regenerative, sustainable agriculture. Johnston says that bold targets are necessary:

“By finally requiring intensive farming to pay the full price for its pollution just like everyone else, the government would spur investment in lower-impact ways of growing food, and reward farmers that have been doing this for generations with less fertilisers and fewer cows.

“Revenue generated from big polluters could then fund the advisory services, certification and manufacturing facilities needed to allow any farmer in Aotearoa to transition to diversified and climate-friendly crops and livestock farming.

“This is an opportunity to adjust our most polluting industry into one that is sustainable, healthy, and positioned for success in the future. And it’s a chance to ensure that farmers on the frontlines of climate breakdown can survive and thrive too.”

/ENDS

Notes to editors  

The Climate Change Commission advice would plan to reduce New Zealand’s domestic emissions, reducing net carbon dioxide emissions to 55% below 2010 levels by 2030, and net agricultural methane, 8% below 2010 levels by 2030.  The reductions proposed in agricultural methane are not within the IPCC pathways for staying within 1.5 degrees warming.
The government is also reviewing New Zealand’s Paris Agreement target for emissions reductions by 2030, our ‘Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)’, which the Commission found to currently be inconsistent with global efforts to stay within 1.5C of global heating. New Zealand is one of the countries yet to increase its NDC target ahead of COP26, the global climate talks in Glasgow in November. This target is planned to be met through a combination of domestic emissions reductions and the purchase of offshore carbon credits.
The combined climate plans submitted by countries account to a dismal 1% emissions reduction, which is way off track from the targeted 45% reduction needed to limit global warming below 1.5 degrees, and to avoid disastrous impacts on vulnerable communities.

See here for 2021 Emissions report from the Beehive.
Oxfam New Zealand’s 2020 report ‘A Fair 2030 Target for Aotearoa’ found that New Zealand’s fair share of effort for keeping to 1.5 degrees would be no less than an 80% reduction from 1990 levels by 2030. 
Download Oxfam’s report, ‘Confronting Carbon Inequality,’ for more information. 
The richest 10% accounted for over half (52%) of the emissions added to the atmosphere between 1990 and 2015. The richest 1% were responsible for 15% of emissions during this time – more than all the citizens of the EU and more than twice that of the poorest half of humanity (7%).

Oxfam Aotearoa reacts to the Climate Change Commission’s report

June 9, 2021

Oxfam Aotearoa reacts to the historic Climate Change Commission report released today at parliament that outlines recommendations for Aotearoa, New Zealand’s climate action over the next 15 years.  

Oxfam Aotearoa’s Campaign Lead Alex Johnston says that report marks a step up in the country’s response to climate change, but that the final does not reflect the urgency around the current climate crisis we’re in. Johnston says that although we can’t deny this is a historic moment, we need to do more. 

“The Climate Change Commission’s report draws a line in the sand for the bare minimum of what the government should be doing to reduce New Zealand’s climate pollution. However, if adopted using the timeframes currently proposed, they won’t make much of a difference.

“Aotearoa needs to do more to achieve its fair share of keeping to 1.5 degrees, so that our friends, colleagues and loved ones in the Pacific and beyond do not have to endure rising poverty, lack of food, moving homes, loss of culture. Greater action is needed in prior to 2030 to ensure a safe climate future for all.”

The recently released report will be used to inform New Zealand’s upgraded target at COP26, the global climate talks in Glasgow, later this year.

Johnston says that Aotearoa is getting left further behind as other countries race to step up their commitments under the Paris Agreement:  

“The US has a target of 50% reductions by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. The UK has a target of 68% reductions by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. And now compare this to New Zealand’s target of 30% reduction by 2030 (compared to 2005 levels), and you can see how we have a problem.” 

New Zealand’s agricultural sector is responsible for around half of the country’s total Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, but only has a 10% reduction target by 2030 under the Zero Carbon Act.  Earlier this year Oxfam Aotearoa urged the Commission to greatly enhance their emissions budgets with agriculture in mind.

“The government continues to let agricultural emissions off the hook, and this is reflected in the Commission’s report – it’s the area where planned reductions are most clearly not aligned with 1.5-degree pathways, and this is holding back how ambitious we can be in our international 2030 target,” said Johnston.

“What we need is to invest in supporting farmers to diversify land uses. Cutting climate pollution from agriculture should include specific and direct regulations on the sources of pollution and rewarding those already farming sustainably, pricing agriculture into the Emissions Trading Scheme, and using the revenue to fund the transition to sustainable food productions.   

“The reality is this: unfortunately, in order for Aotearoa to uphold its end of the agreement to keep warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius, our government either need to do much more to reduce methane pollution at home, or we will need to spend billions of dollars of offshore carbon credits. Essentially passing on an unfair burden of reducing emissions to developing nations like our Pacific neighbours to do our work for us. 

“We cannot embed our sky-high methane emissions caused by industrial agribusiness at the expense of small-scale farmers around the world growing food for their communities. These are people that have contributed the least to the problem, and are facing disruption to their food security due to climate change. That is not climate justice.”   

For interview opportunities and more info:

David Bull, Oxfam Aotearoa
[email protected]

Notes to editors 

The richest 10% accounted for over half (52%) of the emissions added to the atmosphere between 1990 and 2015. The richest 1% were responsible for 15% of emissions during this time – more than all the citizens of the EU and more than twice that of the poorest half of humanity (7%).

Download Oxfam’s report, ‘Confronting Carbon Inequality,’ for more information. 

The combined climate plans submitted by countries account to a dismal 1% emissions reduction, which is way off track from the targeted 45% reduction needed to limit global warming below 1.5 degrees, and to avoid disastrous impacts on vulnerable communities. 

The government is also reviewing New Zealand’s Paris Agreement target for emissions reductions by 2030, our ‘Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)’, which the Commission found to currently be inconsistent with global efforts to stay within 1.5C of global heating. New Zealand is one of the countries yet to increase its NDC target ahead of COP26, the global climate talks in Glasgow in November. 

Oxfam New Zealand’s 2020 report ‘A Fair 2030 Target for Aotearoa’ found that New Zealand’s fair share of effort for keeping to 1.5 degrees would be no less than an 80% reduction from 1990 levels by 2030. 

Chile Government Cancels UN Climate Summit – Oxfam Reaction

October 31, 2019

Responding to the decision by the government of Chile not to host the UN Climate Change Summit in December 2019 following weeks of social unrest, Asier Hernando, Deputy Director of Oxfam in Latin America and the Caribbean said:

“Oxfam supports the right of the Chilean people to peaceful protest, and their right to demand that their government works in the interests of all citizens and not just a fortunate few. We condemn the heavy-handed response of the Chilean government to the protests.”

“The same flawed economic policies that have sparked protests on the streets of Chile are fuelling the global climate crisis and the global inequality crisis. Urgent action is needed by governments to build economies that put people and the environment before economic growth and corporate profits.”

“With time running out to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown, the United Nations must work with governments to ensure that international talks do not lose momentum and that COP 25 finds an alternative home – ideally in Latin America.”

Daring to hope for a better future: a 2040 film review

August 19, 2019

Local solutions to global challenges.

Turn on the news on any given day, and chances are you’ll be bombarded with a stream of stories from around the world ranging from the bleak to the downright terrifying. The documentary 2040 gives us an alternative view – one where, if we play our cards right, we could dare to imagine a different future.

Through a visual letter to his young daughter, director Damon Gameau skilfully illuminates a hopeful world two decades into the future that has successfully adapted to the challenges posed by climate breakdown.

Gameau plays with the idea of innocence; relating his four-year-old daughter’s expanding world – as she grows up and her safe bubble is pierced by outside influences – to our reluctance to leave the blissful ignorance of climate inaction. As he says, it is time to leave the bubble.

According to the documentary-maker, there is plenty of reason not to fear the future. A key element of 2040’s success is that the world Gameau presents is envisioned only with technologies and solutions already invented today.

From micro-grid renewable energy in full swing in Bangladesh, to farmers switching to regenerative agricultural methods, to marine permaculture that could solve our food insecurity woes, it is an exercise in “fact-based dreaming” – and it shows that in many cases, action is being led from the ground up.

We know that climate destruction is hitting some of the poorest people in the world first and worst. At Oxfam, we regularly see examples of people displaced by rising sea levels, homes destroyed by super cyclones, and livelihoods and food sources under constant threat from more frequent and intense extreme weather events.

But it’s encouraging to see films like 2040 highlight how, in many cases, they’re also leading the charge – coming up with local solutions to global challenges, through innovation and community-focused initiatives that the rest of the world can learn from.

But is it only with the innocent naivety of a child that we can hope for an optimistic future?

The film touches on the immense wealth and power wielded by vested interests to quell political action and maintain our status quo reliant on fossil fuel and “big agriculture”. Perhaps deliberately, it leaves blank the space where a less-hopeful notion might linger – why, if we already possess all the necessary technologies to circumvent further catastrophic damage to our planet, are we not rolling these out worldwide, with the urgency that an existential threat to our civilisation demands?

2040 leaves the question hanging – but, crucially, it also gives hope. It shows that around the world there is already a groundswell of people, from campaigners to farmers to engineers, pushing forward against the political tide. While we imagine our best 2040 scenario, others are already busy creating it. If there is one thing to take away from this film, it’s that we already have all we need to build this future. What’s clear is that the onus now lies with us, and especially our political leaders, to act.

2040 is in cinemas from 22 August 2019.

By Kelsey-Rae Taylor, Oxfam New Zealand.

Want to take action? Click here to learn how you can make a stand against climate breakdown by supporting Oxfam.

Ardern Must Meet Pacific Calls for “Prompt, Ambitious” Action on Climate Breakdown

August 16, 2019

New Zealand has been issued a stark challenge from Pacific leaders to dramatically upscale its action to address climate breakdown, Oxfam says, after a clear rallying cry from nations at this week’s Pacific Islands Forum.

Photo: Vlad Sokhin/Oxfam

New Zealand has been issued a stark challenge from Pacific leaders to dramatically upscale its action to address climate breakdown, Oxfam says, after a clear rallying cry from nations at this week’s Pacific Islands Forum.

Oxfam New Zealand’s director of advocacy and campaigns, Dr Joanna Spratt, said Ardern was facing a critical test ahead in the context of Australia’s reckless lack of action.

“Instead of re-announcing money from our existing aid budget, the Prime Minister must listen to the voices of small island states in their calls for domestic action now, reducing our emissions with more urgency; and replenishing the Green Climate Fund.

“Supporting the islands through what we say is a start – but that should be matched by our actions. We need to significantly increase our climate finance, within a rising aid budget. A good step will be a $30mn replenishment of the Green Climate Fund, something that Pacific small island developing states and leaders at this forum have demanded.”

During the Forum, Pacific Island countries reaffirmed in the strongest possible terms – as they have done for several years – that the climate crisis is a matter of survival for them.

“We may look better than Australia, but that does not mean we are anywhere near doing our fair share. Our emissions are still going up, when they should be drastically declining in order to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees,” Dr Spratt said.

Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s landmark report laid out the severe consequences of failing to limit warming to 1.5C and the scale and pace of global action necessary to achieve this goal. New Zealand is among a tiny minority of developed countries in which climate pollution is going up not down.

Spratt said there is a clear divide in this region between Australia recklessly undermining the future of the Pacific, and those who will stand up to fight – and New Zealand’s actions will show whose side we are really on.

“We’re pleased New Zealand supported leaders’ calls to stay below 1.5 degrees and the need for urgent action. Prime Minister Ardern is a strong advocate of climate action, both in our region and globally. We now need the policies and funding to match those ambitious words.”

The group of Pacific Small Island Developing States issued their own statement earlier in the week – the Tuvalu Declaration – calling on all states to take the “prompt, ambitious, successful” actions necessary to limit warming to 1.5°C and secure the future of our region: a swift and just transition from coal, strengthening current and inadequate contributions to the Paris Agreement, and achieving zero emissions before mid-century. These are all calls that were amplified by the UN Secretary General when he visited Tuvalu earlier this year, yet which were either absent or watered down in the Kainaki II Declaration, adopted by all Forum members including Australia and New Zealand.

New Zealand’s only announcement this week was to ring-fence $150m from within the existing aid program towards supporting climate change adaptation in the region.

“While such support is of course going to be welcome, our Pacific brothers and sisters have been abundantly clear – bolder action is needed, and it’s needed now, to ensure the Pacific has a future,” Dr Spratt said.

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