﻿Mr SPEAKER: The House comes to Questions for Oral Answer.
Question No 1, Metiria Turei.
METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green)
to the Minister for Climate Change Issues:
Does he agree that local authorities will face
greater adaptation costs and find it
more expensive to protect infrastructure and property
as the climate changes; if not, why not?
Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Acting Minister
for Climate Change Issues): Not necessarily in all cases.
Good planning manages the risks from natural hazards,
including the impacts of climate change.
Planning involves taking the opportunities of development
as well as investing in long-term hazard mitigation.
Protection is only one adaptation option.
Metiria Turei: Does the Minister agree with
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change editor
Professor Blair Fitzharris that as global warming continues,
Dunedin is likely to face more extreme rainfall events,
storm surges, and extreme winds, and that low-lying,
densely populated areas, coastal communities,
and major transport infrastructure, including Dunedin Airport,
are particularly at risk?
Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Obviously, I would want to see that person’s
comments in the context in which they were given.
What is also obvious, I think, in relation
to the flooding in Dunedin, for example, is that it is
not possible, currently, to estimate how much
climate change contributes to a particular event.
As I think we would all agree, extreme weather events
have always occurred and always will.
Metiria Turei: Does the Minister agree with Dunedin City Council’s
submission on NZ’s climate change target, which says:
“More effective mitigation could significantly reduce
"potential future adaptation costs” and that “the Government
"should consider investing more in climate change mitigation”;
if not, why not?
Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Of course I agree that mitigation,
as well as adaptation, is very important.
That is why we have an emissions trading scheme,
and that is why there are many measures, programmes,
and research projects that we are doing.
Meanwhile, I think that NZ will also play an important
and productive role at the Conference of the Parties (COP21)
in Paris at the end of this year.
Metiria Turei: How does the Minister justify
the National Government’s record on climate change,
which shows a 13% increase in net greenhouse gas emissions,
to the people of Dunedin and to the Mayor of Dunedin,
Dave Cull, who said today: “There may be some areas
"with sea level rise that we end up retreating from
"and not putting any more infrastructure in and actually
"taking the buildings out of. That is the challenge going
"into the future with climate change.”?
Hon SIMON BRIDGES: There are obviously many things in what
the member has said, some of which I disagree with.
I certainly accept what Dave Cull says—that, effectively,
we do need to have both mitigation and adaptation projects
and programmes in place.
The Government is certainly willing to play its part in that.
Metiria Turei: Is the Minister taking into account
increased adaptation costs for local councils
when determining NZ’s emissions reduction target,
given that the Dunedin City Council estimates that
engineering options to protect private property
and infrastructure in high-risk areas against a 0.3 metre rise
in the sea level will cost around $10 million,
and that protection against a 1.6 metre rise in the sea level
will cost around $150 million?
Hon SIMON BRIDGES: We are doing a lot with regard
to adaptation at central government level.
We are publishing climate change projections,
which are very important in terms of the baseline
understanding of what is happening. We are providing
guidance on adaptation— effectively, the principles
of planning and good process, which are essential
for local councils such as Dunedin in terms
of how they do things. Of course, we have got
a NZ Coastal Policy Statement, which sets out requirements
that add clarity and certainty for councils.
Indeed, as the member will know, we are spending
$100 million over a decade on research, which, again,
is incredibly important. We are committed to collaborating
with local government on these important issues.
Metiria Turei: By not taking urgent leadership on climate change,
has his Government not abandoned the Dunedin City Council
and the people of Dunedin to pick up the cost of more extreme
rainfall events like yesterday’s, when the city was swamped
in 24 hours by 2 months’ worth of rain, causing flooding,
electricity outages, sewerage overflows, the evacuation
of rest homes and schools, the Otago Peninsula being cut off,
and the side of State Highway 1 “looking like a canal”?
Hon SIMON BRIDGES: It would be really good if the member
would take a science-based approach to these things.
It is simply not possible, currently, to estimate
how much climate change has contributed to the flooding in Dunedin.
Dr Megan Woods: Scientists do.
Hon SIMON BRIDGES: I am sure, actually, that all scientists
would agree with me on that. What I can say is that we have
a comprehensive climate change policy in NZ,
which spans the full gamut of both mitigation
and adaptation measures, and we can hold our head up well
internationally on that.
Metiria Turei: Is the Minister not confirming,
by his dismissive attitude towards the science of climate change,
that someone is paying the cost of his doing nothing
on this issue, and that this week that just happens
to be the people of Dunedin?
Hon SIMON BRIDGES: This Government takes science very seriously;
we wish the Green Party would.
Mr SPEAKER: Question No 2.
Subtitles by the Amara.org community