Ian McLean Spokesperson for the Green Party

Several more nails were hammered into the coffin of climate change denial this week. No doubt the Flat Earth Society will welcome aboard any who continue to think there is nothing to worry about.

Sir Peter Gluckman (the official government scientist) released a report stating that sea level will continue to rise (think coastal erosion), sea acidification is continuing (think loss of marine life and ecosystems), and tropical cyclones will increase in both frequency and intensity (think more Cyclone Bolas).

Also, Generation Zero was in town on July 30, asking 'What's the holdup?” as part of its national tour. Hats off to an enthusiastic band of young people who are determined to make a difference.

Associate Minister for Climate Change, Simon Bridges, told Generation Zero that 'we are doing our fair share”, which is another way of saying 'we are doing as little as everybody else”. This is not the kind of leadership that our young people want and need.

Minister for Climate Change Tim Groser recently returned from yet another international meeting, saying: 'we all look forward to the next comprehensive report on the science”. Unfortunately, Peter noted (and the Minister agrees) that scientific reports do not address how countries actually respond to climate change, because decisions are dominated by economic and political considerations.

Minister Groser further notes that the Government's primary response to climate change is the ETS. Yet the Government has disabled the ETS by excluding 47 per cent of our emissions (farming), and subsidising the price of carbon in the rest of it.

To paraphrase Associate Minister Bridges, that is not enough, it is not fair, and it assigns our share of costs to the future.

Further, this government is promoting coal mining and extremely risky deep sea oil drilling, despite knowing that the world has already found enough oil to push us through the 450 ppm mark for atmospheric carbon – 350 ppm is regarded as the maximum that our planet and lifestyle can tolerate, and the planet recently passed 400 ppm.

Every day that the causes of climate change are devalued represents another costly day for our children. Sadly, the opportunity for mitigation and management within 'normal” climatic fluctuations has already passed, and our children are committed to adaptation as their only option.

That means adjusting to some pretty challenging and expensive consequences. The storm we had in June cost at least $33 million. Expect a lot more of that. Expect higher insurance costs too.

Minister Groser welcomed the Gluckman report. One wonders why, as it points to effects of such serious consequence that they should be driving all government environmental policy. The report he was looking forward to has arrived. What we need now is for it to be taken seriously.

It is very clear that our current crop of leaders do not propose to be part of the solution. Well, we harvest the crops we sow, and both 2013 and 2014 offer electoral opportunities to raise awareness and make change.

Ian McLean is a spokesperson for the Green Party. He can be contacted by calling 021 547556 or 07 579 4670 or emailing: ian.mclean@greens.org.nz