The G20 decision to include climate change in its communiqué despite Australia's attempt to ignore it, increases pressure on New Zealand to come up with a credible plan to cut emissions, the Green Party said today.
The G20 Leaders Communiqué from the weekend included a paragraph calling for strong and effective action to address climate change.
"With the G20 released a statement supporting action on climate change, it's embarrassing that Prime Minister John Key continues to indicate that New Zealand plans to continue increasing emissions," said Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman.
"The Government needs to open the process up to the public and let New Zealanders have a say on our post-2020 climate targets.
"Many New Zealanders will not be aware that Government policy will lead to a 50 percent increase in emissions in the next 10 years.
"Six years of increasing emissions, while whinging that it is too hard to do anything, has left New Zealand in a challenging position.
"The National Government's plans are grossly irresponsible. We need to rapidly change course and adopt policies that actually cut emissions," said Dr Norman.
