The Zero Carbon bill has passed it's first reading in parliament almost unanimously with a majority of 119 to one. Grace speaks with Forest and Bird spokesperson, Geoff Keey, about what the bill means for the environment.
While New Zealand has a target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, net zero emissions can be achieved without transformative change through measures which merely seek to offset emissions. New Zealand has continued to garner criticism for inaction on climate change, and was recently excluded from the Climate Ambition Summit. This raises the question of whether New Zealand's climate policy reflects the urgency of the situation.
Hanna spoke to James Renwick, a climate scientist from Victoria University, about the efficacy of offsetting emissions through tree planting, and whether we should instead seek to reduce emissions.
Around the world countries are tackling climate change with net zero targets. This involves offsetting carbon emissions through other initiatives such as planting trees or using technology that pulls carbon dioxide out of the air.
Despite the drive to meet these targets, carbon in the atmosphere is continuing to rise, and even with the current efforts to offset them, they aren’t predicted to drop.
Climate scientist and honorary academic at the University of Auckland, Kevin Trenberth says that world leaders should scrap these net zero targets and instead focus on ‘real zero’, eliminating fossil fuels entirely.
Producer Evie spoke to Trenberth about what the ‘real zero’ initiative involves, how it differs from net zero, and how realistic it is for it to be adopted both in Aotearoa and globally.
Amelia is joined by Che aka bb gurl aka Mallshopper for a conclusive list of the best of the best anime of all time PERIOD. But none of that Shonen nonsense - the good stuff.
New Zealand’s total emission rate has increased 23.2 percent since 1990, and makes up 0.2 percent of global emissions. A new online tool has been created that helps New Zealand households track and reduce their carbon footprint. Reporter Jess Smith speaks to secretary for the environment, Vicky Robertson, about this tool and what New Zealanders can do to reduce their carbon footprints.
Generation Zero will soon release their Zero Carbon Act. The Act, which Gen Zero hopes to attract cross-party support for, would commit the government to completely eliminating net carbon emissions.
Producer Bronwyn Wilde spoke to Don Carson from Forest Owners Association. This interview arose out of an earlier interview last month with a representative from 50 Shades of Green - a group of farmers who are concerned about the Billion Trees program encouraging investors to buy up prime farmland in order to plant trees and reap the carbon credits. The main takeaway from that initial interview was that 50 Shades of Green wanted those billion trees to be native, and planted on marginal land.
Don Carson heard this interview and got in contact to defend pines and forestry as the solution to sequester our carbon in the short term, and supply jobs for farmers who will be forced to change their lifestyles.
He began by telling us what he sees as the weaknesses of the 50 Shades of Green campaign.
Tu spoke to Denise Lee of the National Party about… The Zero Carbon Bill passing, Background checks for electoral candidates, and Christopher Luxon running for National in Botany.
Bronnie spoke to Kevin Hague, Chief Executive of Forest and Bird about the passing of the Zero Carbon
Tu spoke to Elaine Rush about food poverty in New Zealand, and how it affects children
And Ben does neutral corner on the Iranian nuclear deal
Last Wednesday the coalition government announced spending on infrastructure, putting 8 billion towards reading, public transport, schools and hospitals. 78% of this has gone towards road projects, such as road widening in state highway 1 between Whangarei and port Marsden, the Mill road project and the Tauranga northern link. With only 2.4 billion left for public transport, schools and hospitals among other infrastructure, groups such as Generation Zero are disappointed at this step back from the Zero Carbon act which was bought into law this year, with transport currently contributes for 40% of our carbon emissions each year. That being said, pressure has been taken off local councils, especially Auckland council, with projects such as a walking and bike path under the harbour bridge now being funded. James talked to Coco Lovatt, a member of Schools strike for climate, about how they've looked at this announcement and what they'd like to see in the future.
With the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to pose a significant health risk to people right across the world, the opening of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games has been controversial. However, another controversial issue that goes hand in hand with the Games every year is greenwashing.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has made strong commitments to ensuring the Games are working towards a carbon neutral (or even carbon positive) goal using their Sustainability Strategy, which was issued in 2017. But Dr Binoy Kampmark, a senior lecturer in the school of Global Urban Studies at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, says that the greenness of the Games is an act of theatre.
News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston talks to Dr Kampmark about this issue of greenwashing the Olympics, how green the 2020 Games truly are and what it would take to make this major sporting event a leader in sustainablity.
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