Canterbury Regional Council, climate change, carbon dioxide and mitigation

Abstract

In time New Zealand's response to the issue of climate change will be assessed. That assessment will occur with the added advantage of hindsight. Will New Zealand's response be adequate, appropriate and justifiable, or will the guiding principles of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) come back to haunt us; sustainable management for future generations? That is the dilemma that we face today; act now in good faith, or put off till tomorrow. What has been recognised is that:

...New Zealand's ratification of the Convention means that New Zealand cannot ignore the issue of climate change, which is the most long term and profoundly disquieting environmental issue being faced by New Zealand (MƒE ps. 9/3/95).

Recognition of the Framework Convention on Climate Change is one thing, action is another, as currently in 1996 the Government's response has been to create "Climate Change and CO2 Policy: A Durable Response: Discussion Document of the Working Group on CO2 Policy" (MƒE June 1996). This the 'guiding light' abdicates the Government's current policy stream, refuting the maxim of "think globally, act locally".