New Zealand passes Zero Carbon bill to fight global climate change

New Zealand has joined hands and passed a bill on climate change. All the members of the parliament voted in favor to implement a bill that aims at fighting climate change. The bill called the zero carbon bill aims to reduce the carbon emissions in New Zealand and make the nation carbon-neutral till 2015. The bill will be beneficial to the farmers who are responsible for contributing to the country’s economy by bringing more foreign investment. 

New Zealand to set an example for the global leaders

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expressed her despair as she believes other nations are putting more efforts to combat climate change and global warming. She pledged that New Zealand will set an example for the world in fighting climate change. During her address in the parliament, she said that” the globe is already warming, the levels of saltwater are disturbing the freshwater balance and some of the nations are already witnessing the impacts. Therefore it is important on which side of the history we choose to stand, she further said that ‘climate change is the biggest challenge of our times”

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Bill passed with consensus

The Liberal government proposed the bill in the Parliament, which was later supported by the biggest opposition party of Conservatives. However, they expressed concerns with certain discrepancies with the Zero Carbon Bill. However, they said that they would change those after coming in power. 

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Zero Carbon Bill

According to the Zero Carbon Bill, all greenhouse gases will be reduced to a net of zero by 2050, except methane which is released by the animals. The bill aims at reducing Methane emissions by 10 per cent by 2030. According to the bill, the government of New Zealand will form a Climate Change Commission which will work in collaboration with the government to form period targets in order to monitor the success of the bill. However, Jacinda Ardern asserted that it is important to move beyond targets that are required at the moment. The government will have Carbon budgets that will help to establish targets with respect to the wide spectrum. 

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The government will also plant 1 billion trees in the next 10 years along with the use of renewable sources of energy to produce electricity by 2035. James Shaw, the Climate Change Minister said that the new bill promises a better and safe planet for everyone including the next generation. Agriculture will play a major which also is a key factor in the economic growth of the country.

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(With inputs from agencies)