Monday, November 14, 2016



Climate change: Leadership

While the New Zealand government has set itself a pathetic climate change target (and plans to meet it by cooking the books), the Germans are showing us how its done:

Germany’s coalition government has reached an agreement on a climate change action plan which involves reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 to 95% by 2050, a spokesperson said on Friday.

The plan, which will require German industry to reduce its CO2 emission by a fifth by 2030, and Germany’s energy sector to reduce emissions by almost a half, will be reviewed in 2018 with a view to its impact on jobs and society.

“Especially the sector targets, included in the climate protection plan, will be subject to a comprehensive impact assessment,” government spokesperson Georg Streiter said at a news conference. He said the government agreed that the reduction targets could be adjusted in 2018.


These are the sorts of cuts that are actually necessary to beat this problem. And the government committing to them will force the market to find solutions. The contrast with New Zealand's foot-dragging couldn't be greater.