I’m writing to update you on yesterday’s major news: ACT’s position statement on the Paris Agreement.

ACT takes a stand on Paris

ACT has announced their policy on the Paris Agreement, saying “Paris needs to change, or New Zealand needs to leave”.

This is a major step forward for the Quit Paris campaign. A party in Parliament is willing to say the truth about Paris and what we’ve been saying is all there.

David Seymour:

“Sending New Zealand farming and industry overseas where they emit even more hurts the climate and our way of life.”

“The Paris Agreement demands targets that are disconnected from science and blind to New Zealand’s realities.”

“New Zealand should remain engaged with our trading partners, but only on terms that make sense for us.”

Andrew Hoggard:

“A better deal would mean a fairer, more scientific approach to methane.”

Simon Court:

“Emissions Reduction Plans have led to punishing carbon prices that steadily drive up electricity costs.”

Mark Cameron:

“We might be a nation of five million, but we feed 50 million, and we do it bloody efficiently.”

We would quote more, but you can just go and read their announcement here: https://www.act.org.nz/news/paris-is-broken-new-zealand-deserves-a-better-climate-deal

But just one more, because perhaps best of all:

“ACT’s better deal on climate means no emissions pricing for agriculture, revisiting Emissions Reduction Plans, and ensuring every dollar delivers"
-David Seymour (emphasis ours)

ACT is dead right about the problems with the Paris Agreement and how it’s a bad deal for New Zealand.

And they’re right that it isn’t just farming that’s at risk. As David Seymour says, Paris is causing higher prices for food, electricity and all production.

The only trouble is that they’re not the only party around and even if they manage to convince their coalition partners, eventually there will be a change of government. (NZ First has made some of the right noises in this direction – hopefully they will make an announcement as definitive as ACT’s soon.)

We might be able to imagine Climate Change Minister Simon Watts, after coalition negotiations next election force his hand, going to the next UN conference and declaring that the world can thank us for our emissions-efficient high-quality food, while we increase production to decrease global emissions from food.

But it’s harder to see some Labour, Green, or Maori Party minister doing anything other than just changing back to the old ways of using Paris to wave away concerns about whether a policy makes sense.

Paris is not just the black letter of the agreement, or the set of policies New Zealand creates to meet what it agreed to (in theory). Paris is the whole institution of international pressure that makes politicians, along with the bureaucrats who advise them, believe that they have to go along with what everyone else is doing, even in the face of the absurd.

Absurd, like believing that it matters where in the world the emissions come from. Absurd, like thinking any gasses can come out of a cow that weren’t already absorbed from the atmosphere by the feed they eat. Absurd, like believing a tax on emissions will cause efficiency improvements when Kiwi farmers are already at the cutting edge.

It’s hard to imagine for anyone who stays across these issues, but you only have to look at the self-declared experts like the Centre for Sustainable Finance, who are writing climate finance policy for Simon Watts but haven’t thought about emissions leakage from sending production offshore.

But worse, it isn’t at all clear that even National itself understands that these are absurdities.

It’s true, a new government could also just sign up to Paris again, once we quit. But that’s why we need to persuade the public that Paris is a bad deal so there’s a political price for any party that wants to go back.

Rejoining Paris would be news in the way that a new Climate Change Minister bringing back a Farming Tax, while saying they’re just tweaking policy “to meet our Paris commitments”, would fly under the radar.

We have to make politicians scared for their jobs if they try to sign us up again.

So, Groundswell is still calling for quitting Paris all together.

ACT has the right idea on what the problems with Paris are and, in the end, it’s their job to get what they can across the line in an MMP environment.

If New Zealand is to stay in Paris, then ACT’s proposed changes are the minimum we need to keep farming alive as we know it and protect rural communities from the poverty that comes from complying with Paris.

But we can’t trust future politicians to stand up for New Zealand within the Paris system. We’ve seen them baulk at even the clear option of the food security clause this whole time. Remember, National still says they’ll bring in a Farming Tax on agricultural emissions by 2030.

For all those reasons, we still say:

Quit Paris.

Thank you again for your support. It’s supporters like you who make the noise that gets politicians to notice our campaigns, whether that’s by putting up signs, making donations, or forwarding emails and sharing social media.

It all goes towards getting action on the issues facing us and we’re glad you’re on board for the fight.

It’s working. Announcements like yesterday show that success is on the horizon. Quit Paris!

Kind regards,

Bryce, Laurie, and the Team at Groundswell NZ