Editorial: Sign of the times underscores climate’s importance in election

The Southern Alps, showing plenty of rock. Photo / Niwa

Predicting anything these days dices with strong odds of getting it wrong.

However, it’s probably a safe bet there will be a growing tourism trend in the coming years of visiting places before precious nature spots and creatures are irrevocably damaged or lost.

People will more urgently want to see and walk among areas of natural beauty before it’s too late. It’s a divisive topic because air travel contributes to global warming and the planet’s predicament.

In the case of New Zealand’s glaciers, Niwa predicts that 11 of 50 monitored for years will likely disappear by the middle of the next decade.

Scientists conducting the annual snowline survey of the Southern Alps, after two years of record heat, snapped evidence of the decaying glaciers.

Brewster Glacier.

Even large and famous glaciers such as Fox and Franz Josef were in retreat, while small, lower-level ones have largely gone.

“The scale of retreat is confronting, even to a glaciologist,” Monash University’s Professor Andrew Mackintosh said.

“It emphasises the urgency of slowing climate change, because the impacts are going to become increasingly costly and hard to avoid.”

Niwa climate scientist Dr Drew Lorrey said: “Not only do we risk losing the glaciers and our intimate relationship with them completely, but it will also affect the livelihoods of people who rely on these natural wonders for tourism, [and create] flow-on effects from decreased meltwater during periods of drought.”

Systematically advancing climate goals, tying into greater public transport use, is the biggest background issue leading up to the October election.

Overseas, the European Union last week approved a plan to end sales of new carbon-emitting cars in 2035. Transport makes up nearly a quarter of EU emissions. The EU is also boosting its commitment, across its 27 countries, to sourcing its energy from renewable sources by 2030, from 32 per cent to at least 42.5 per cent.

On Friday, National launched a climate policy focused on the decarbonisation of the energy and transport sectors. The party argues for speeding up resource consents for non-hydro renewable generation. Leader Christopher Luxon said that a lot more wind and solar farms would be needed.

It’s an interesting area for an Opposition party to explore because, under Labour, carbon policy and transport projects have dominated public discussion. The country would seem to have a huge amount of potential space for wind and solar energy.

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise cites 17 on-shore windfarms and about 160MW of installed grid-connected solar power in place, with more projects of both types in development. Resource consent was last year granted for a 400MW solar station near Taupō, which would be New Zealand’s largest.

Also, last week the Government brought forward plans for another Waitematā Harbour crossing, with a heavy emphasis on light rail provisions in the five options. And construction has begun on a new busway extension for Auckland’s eastern suburbs, including walkway and cycle routes, between Papakura and Botany.

For important areas like climate action and improving infrastructure, bipartisan agreement needs to be baked in as much as possible to ensure that projects actually get made.

Urgency to make progress should be the main priority. The more people who can demonstrate this concern cuts across party tribal politics, the better.