KEY POINTS:
Greenpeace fired up a new campaign calling for action to combat climate change with a solar-powered sausage sizzle outside Parliament yesterday.
Under a banner which read "All Sizzle No Sausage" alongside images of Helen Clark and John Key, a small barbecue was hooked up to a pair of solar panels to demonstrate the benefit of renewable resources.
Greenpeace climate campaigner Susannah Bailey accused the Labour and National parties of being "all political speech and no action".
"Both major parties are desperately trying to outdo each other with talk on climate change, but neither has come up with real solutions to the problem.
"Yes, the Government is moving to implement an emissions trading scheme, but indications are it will suffer from serious shortcomings."
She said the agriculture sector, which contributes nearly half the country's greenhouse gas emissions, would likely be exempt for some years.
"The Government continues to contradict its 'carbon neutral' ambition by taking such backward steps as granting massive oil and gas exploration permits in Southland," she said.
"Meanwhile the National Party's '50 by 50' target (of a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2050) might sound good but won't go anywhere near what is needed to fix the problem."
National's climate change spokesman, Nick Smith, and Labour's Minister for Climate Change Issues, David Parker, both stopped by the sausage sizzle to talk with Greenpeace members.
Dr Smith agreed not enough was being done and called the Government's policies on climate change "a debacle".
He said recent increases in emissions ran contrary to Labour's promises of reductions by 2025.
National has taken a deliberate strategy to be modest in its commitments because "politicians over-promise and under-deliver".
Mr Parker said climate change could not be fixed Climate change can't be fixed overnight but the Labour-led government was already implementing "a huge number of initiatives" that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
- NZPA
