Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill

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Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill
Coat of arms of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand Parliament
The purpose of this bill is to provide a framework by which New Zealand can develop and implement clear and stable climate change policies that contribute to the global effort under the Paris Agreement. [1]
Legislative history
Introduced by James Shaw [1]
First reading 21 May 2019 [1]

The Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill is a proposed Act of Parliament in New Zealand that seeks to provide a framework for New Zealand to develop and implement climate change policies in support of the Paris Agreement. The Bill passed its first reading on 21 May 2019 and has been referred to the select committee stage. [1]

An act of parliament, also called primary legislation, are statutes passed by a parliament (legislature). Act of the Oireachtas is an equivalent term used in the Republic of Ireland where the legislature is commonly known by its Irish name, Oireachtas. The United States Act of Congress is based on it.

New Zealand Country in Oceania

New Zealand is a sovereign island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, and the South Island —and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, and plant life. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland.

Paris Agreement International agreement with the goal of stopping the effects of global warming.

The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, signed in 2016. The agreement's language was negotiated by representatives of 196 state parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Le Bourget, near Paris, France, and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015. As of March 2019, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the agreement, and 186 have become party to it. The Paris Agreement's long-term goal is to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels; and to limit the increase to 1.5 °C, since this would substantially reduce the risks and effects of climate change.

Contents

Legislative features

The Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill seeks to amend the Climate Change Response Act 2002 to provide a framework for New Zealand to develop and implement climate change policies that contribute to global efforts under the Paris Agreement to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. New Zealand ratified the Paris Agreement in October 2015. Its nationally determined contribution is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. This target is equivalent to 11 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030. Key provisions of the Zero Carbon Bill including consulting with Māori iwi and leadership bodies under the obligations of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing a Climate Change Commission, and setting a target to reduce carbon emissions by 2050. [2]

Climate Change Response Act 2002 Act of Parliament in New Zealand

The Climate Change Response Act 2002 is an Act of Parliament passed by the government of New Zealand.

Māori people Indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand

The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from eastern Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages some time between 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these Polynesian settlers developed a unique culture, with their own language, a rich mythology, and distinctive crafts and performing arts. Early Māori formed tribal groups based on eastern Polynesian social customs and organisation.

Iwi are the largest social units in Aotearoa Māori society. The Māori-language word iwi means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in Māori.

History

Green Party leader James Shaw introduced the Zero Carbon bill into Parliament on 8 May 2019. [3] The Zero Carbon Bill passed its first reading on 22 May 2019. The opposition National Party supported the Zero Carbon bill while expressing concerns about its methane targets. [4] [5] The Zero Carbon Bill is currently at the select committee stage. [1]

The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is a left-wing political party in New Zealand. Like many Green parties around the world it has four organisational pillars: ecology, social responsibility, grassroots democracy, and nonviolence. It also accepts Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the founding document of Aotearoa New Zealand and recognises Māori as Tangata Whenua.

James Shaw (New Zealand politician) New Zealand politician, born 1973

James Peter Edward Shaw is a New Zealand politician and a leader of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. Voters elected Shaw to the New Zealand parliament at the 2014 general election as a list representative of the Green Party. The party selected Shaw as its male co-leader in May 2015. Following Metiria Turei's resignation in August 2017, Shaw became the party's sole leader for the duration of the 2017 general election.

New Zealand National Party Major New Zealand political party

The New Zealand National Party, shortened to National or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside its traditional rival, the New Zealand Labour Party.

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill". New Zealand Parliament . Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  2. ↑ "Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill 2019 (136-1) (Hon James Shaw)". New Zealand Parliament. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  3. ↑ Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern (8 May 2019). "Landmark climate change bill goes to Parliament". New Zealand Government. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  4. ↑ Tyson, Jessica (22 May 2019). "Zero Carbon Bill passes first reading". Māori Television . Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  5. ↑ Cooke, Henry (21 May 2019). "National supports climate change bill through first reading". Stuff.co.nz . Retrieved 22 May 2019.
New Zealand Parliament legislative body of New Zealand

The New Zealand Parliament is the legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the Queen of New Zealand (Queen-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The Queen is usually represented by her governor-general. Before 1951, there was an upper chamber, the New Zealand Legislative Council. The New Zealand Parliament was established in 1854 and is one of the oldest continuously functioning legislatures in the world. It has met in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, since 1865.

The Parliamentary Counsel Office is New Zealand's law drafting office. It drafts New Zealand Government Bills and Legislative Instruments. It publishes all New Zealand Bills, Acts, and Legislative Instruments in print and on the New Zealand Legislation website.

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