Saving the planet

Climate change is the most urgent issue of our time, and our lives must change if we are to deal with it. That is one reason why the Government’s move to get wide popular support for its zero-carbon programme makes sense.

Without public support, the programme will be even more difficult to put in place than it would be anyway. In that sense the rallying call to the public is a ploy or motivated by political selfinterest.

Similarly, if both major parties support the reform programme, progress is more likely. National seems to have softened its stance on this, with the party’s Todd Muller welcoming Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s indication that she wants to work with the Opposition.

The Government has made climate change a vital part of its identity, with Ardern saying it is the nuclear-free issue of our time. That means the Labour-led administration has a lot at stake, and will need as much political help as it can.

Nobody knows how this will go because the steps on the road towards a zero-carbon date of 2050 will be crucial.

The National-led government had adopted a slow and minimal approach, not even choosing to be a fast follower of international trend-setters. This was partly because it feared that a tougher stance would imperil an important part of our export industry, since half of New Zealand’s carbon emissions come from agriculture and reducing this will be difficult.

And that is where Labour will face a similar set of dilemmas. Its political problems are not as acute as National’s on the agriculture side, since farmers are much more likely to support National than Labour.

But the economic trade-off is similar. No New Zealand government wants to seriously damage agriculture.

On some other issues, such as fossil fuels, Labour has some political problems of its own. It has traditionally had good support among the coal-mining industry. But there is a good argument that coal-mining should be phased out, just as there is a good argument that the use of oil should be radically reduced and replaced by less planet-threatening fuel sources.

The scientific experts have shown that the Earth cannot afford to use more than about half of the known reserves of fossil fuels if climate change is to be controlled.

The Government’s move to set up an independent climate change commission will help it to promote these messages and perhaps to raise popular support for the need to take serious action.

The attempt to bring people along with the Government is both pragmatic and, at least with the Green Party, a reflection of its deep commitment to grassroots democracy. On the other hand, the Greens are also much more willing to upset farmers.

And the campaign will collide with powerful economic interests, such as agriculture and with the fossil fuels industry.

So the Government’s rallying call to the public is likely to be only partially successful. And its attempt to get a deal with the Opposition is almost certainly doomed.