Re:

"NZ Pioneers New Climate Change Initiative With UN"   

A New York report

Has anyone read or heard any debate about this new agreement with the UN?
Surely signing up to such an initiative should be debated in Parliament before we put pen to paper.
These initiatives incur costs and commitments.

Is this constitutionally acceptable?

Do any of our Parliamentarians, other than the Minister, know anything about it?

The "Initiative" has been launched in Monaco. Is this the Glenn connection – or is it just "jet-lag" paranoia?

The kicker is the last paragraph which reads:

New Zealand, which will host World Environment Day 2008 under the theme
'Kick the C02 Habit", is paying particular attention to emissions from
agriculture. Some 40,000 farms account for 50 per cent of the country's
greenhouse gases versus around 12 per cent from agriculture in most
developed countries.

Are we really committed to punishing ourselves for daring to feed the world?

NZ Pioneers New Climate Change Initiative With UN

Monday, 25 February 2008, 8:36 am
Article: Andreas von Warburg

New Zealand Pioneers New Climate Change Initiative With United Nations
By Andreas von Warburg, Reporting from New York

New Zealand is one of the pioneering founders of the Climate Neutral
Network (CN Net), a bold new initiative to address climate change and
the urgent need to de-carbonize the global economy. The country has
joined the United Nations and three other countries, four cities and
five corporations to launch one of the most promising projects to fight
global warming and preserve our planet in the best possible way.

Launched on February 22 2008 in Monaco by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) in cooperation with the UN's Environment Management
Group, CN Net is one inspiring solution to the challenge of rising
greenhouse gases and a way to federate the small but growing wave of
nations, local authorities and companies who are pledging to
significantly reduce emissions en route to zero emission economies,
communities and businesses.

"The development of the Climate Neutral Network signifies a major step
forward in creating a coordinated global response to climate change,”
said David Parker, Minister for Climate Change of New Zealand. “I am
proud that New Zealand is a founding member of the Climate Neutral
Network. As a signatory we are leading the way in actively laying out
strategies to become carbon neutral.”

Parker said the creation of the network recognizes that global economic
growth and well-being sit alongside a clean and healthy environment. “It
also recognizes that climate change is an issue of the highest concern
to the United Nations,” he underlined.

The Network, a web-based project, is a truly global information exchange
network open to all sectors of society from Presidents, Prime Ministers
and Princes to people from small towns in developing and industrialized
countries. All, from intergovernmental bodies, to civil society groups
and eventually individuals, will be invited to take part in the coming
months.

"Climate neutrality is an idea whose time has come, driven by the urgent
need to address climate change but also the abundant economic
opportunities emerging for those willing to embrace a transition to a
Green Economy," said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP
Executive Director. "This new initiative supports the formal
negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Here
governments need to navigate the Bali Road Map to a successful
conclusion in Copenhagen in 2009. The CN Net can assist in building
confidence through demonstrable action at the national and local level
on the art of the possible."

Steiner underline the potential of the new initiative as a way to
mobilize a broad-based response and have beneficial lasting effects on
our planet. “A transition to a low, even zero, carbon future can be a
reality if inspiring and practical actions can be federated around the
world," he said. “The CN Net is […] in for the long haul.”

Apart from New Zealand, the first four countries to have joined UNEP’s
project are Costa Rica, Iceland, and Norway. The four founder cities are
Arendal in Norway, Rizhao in China, Vancouver in Canada, and Växjö in
Sweden. The five initial companies are UK’s Co-Operative Financial
Services, Interface Inc of the US, Brazil’s Natura, Soth Africa’s
Nedbank, and Singapore’s Senoko Power. They all represent a diversity of
challenges and opportunities which have the potential to be replicated
by others in whole or in part.

New Zealand is aspiring to climate neutrality through a wide range of
domestic initiatives including a trading scheme covering all sectors of
the economy and all six greenhouse gases regulated under the Kyoto
Protocol.

The country has set itself the target of generating 90 per cent of its
electricity from renewable sources by 2025, and halving per capita
transport emissions by 2040 by introducing electric cars and a
requirement to use bio fuels. Meanwhile six government agencies will be
aiming to achieve full neutrality by 2012. Where emissions cannot be cut
they will be offset through forest regeneration projects on tribal lands.

New Zealand, which will host World Environment Day 2008 under the theme
'Kick the C02 Habit", is paying particular attention to emissions from
agriculture. Some 40,000 farms account for 50 per cent of the country's
greenhouse gases versus around 12 per cent from agriculture in most
developed countries.