New Zealand declares climate emergency
New Zealand declared a climate emergency in parliament on Wednesday (December 2), and promised that the government would become carbon neutral by 2025.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the motion was based on United Nations research showing carbon emissions need to reach zero by 2050 to avoid a 1.5 degree Celsuis rise in temperature, a threshold many experts say is crucial to protecting ecosystems.
"As a government we are also announcing the Carbon Neutral Government Program that requires government organisations to be carbon neutral by 2025. We must, we must get our own house in order. How can we stand and take a leadership position amongst the private sector unless we take the same action that we expect of them."
The motion was passed in parliament and met with applause.
The program will require government agencies to measure and publicly report carbon emissions and offset any they cannot cut by 2025.
In her speech, Ardern also argued this motion was vital to avoid human displacement, exhausting global resources and to protect future generations:
"This declaration is an acknowledgement of the next generation, an acknowledgment of the burden that they will carry if we do not get this right and if we do not take action now."
New Zealand joins 32 other countries including Canada, France and Britain, all of which have declared a climate emergency.
