Flavell Te Ururoa: Climate Change Response Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Flavell Te Ururoa: Climate Change Response Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:635;Page:6403] 
TE URUROA FLAVELL (Maori Party—Waiariki) 
: 
 Kia ora Mr Deputy Speaker; kia ora tatou katoa. The emails came in fast and furious after the second reading of the Climate Change Response Amendment Bill on 25 October—to the Maori Party at least. One email said the following: “All the big noise about climate change interviews from all sectors … when the reality is that they are all ‘johnny-come-latelys’. No-one is talking or asking the view of the indigenous people Maori Aborigine Inuit Native American Papuan etc. We hold the key to the Earth’s survival and they dismiss you as you would a child who asks intuitive questions”. 
 Never one to shirk from a challenge I thought it was only fitting to bring to the House a copy of the indigenous peoples’ statement from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change some 4 years ago in November 2002. The statement refers to the sacred relationship with Papatuanuku mother Earth that binds indigenous peoples to conserve biodiversity for the survival of present and future generations. The perilous state of the Earth as we are challenged by global warming and climate change is evidenced in the melting of the polar ice caps the inconsistency of the seasons the rising seas food and water shortages species extinction and massive loss of lives and homes. Traditional ways of life are being affected by the damage caused by climate change particularly in forest wetland river and coastal areas. 
Set against this wider international indigenous perspective what will this bill do to make a positive difference to mother Earth Papatuanuku? In ratifying the Kyoto Protocol Aotearoa has made the commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to at least 5 percent below the 1999 levels from 2008 to 2012 and it could not have come a day sooner. The fact that we are the fourth-highest nation amongst developed nations in the emission of greenhouse gases is hardly something to boast about; nor is the fact that New Zealand’s rate of emissions is growing significantly faster than that of Australia’s nor the fact that the rate of carbon emissions has increased faster than the rate of population growth and GDP leaving us in the dubious position of our rate being more than twice the world average and above the OECD average. 
This bill amends the Climate Change Response Act 2002 to allow entities other than the Crown to hold accounts in the Kyoto Protocol register and to trade in emission units. 
In my second reading speech I raised the issues associated with the actions of the Christchurch City Council which has sold carbon credits to British Gas. There is of course a very significant contradiction inherent in the relationship of carbon credits to climate change. If we take the basic premise that climate change is about greenhouse gas emissions surely the desired outcome is that emissions need to be reduced. If industry polluters are able to purchase carbon credits to offset their polluting emissions yet still make no apparent effort to reduce emissions surely the core problem remains. 
The hub of the problem is that most global warming over the last 150 years is attributable to human activity. The answer therefore lies in our human hands. All of us have a responsibility to do what we can to ensure that we assist this nation by not putting more carbon into the atmosphere than we are able to offset by other means. Indigenous peoples across the globe understand their role and responsibility as being unique in conserving Papatuanuku mother Earth but it is not a duty that we hold exclusively. We in the Maori Party believe that if we are going to reverse mitigate or halt in their flow any of the catastrophes that stand to threaten Papatuanuku urgent and specific attention must be accorded this issue by all peoples of this land. 
The second major thrust of this bill is to extend the regulation-making powers of the Forests Act 1949. The proposal is to establish a mechanism to allow landowners to access the value of carbon from newly established permanent forest sinks. Such an arrangement created under the Kyoto Protocol may result in the promotion of afforestation for erosion control and other environmental concerns and the promotion of forestry for economic development and employment promotion in particular regions. 
We are aware that Ngati Porou Whanui Forests is very keen for this bill to be supported and it recognises that it and other iwi will be able to make income by trading carbon credits accumulated in their forest assets. It believes that it is able to make money before the harvesting of forests which as such is a totally new income stream. Alternatively it is able to make money by planting permanent forests on isolated or erodible land that is not suitable for farming and harvesting forests. To this end of course the Maori Party will support the priorities expressed by whanau hapu and iwi in their aspirations for cultural economic social environmental and spiritual wealth. There is no greater goal for many of our people than for whanau hapu and iwi to be actively participating and succeeding in the economy. 
But we draw the House’s attention once more to the concept of the genuine progress index which differentiates between positive contributions to progress and negative activity. We are aware that forestry can be harmful to the environment. We understand that some hapu and iwi have been undertaking research in forestation and deforestation that could be helpful in underpinning our future developments. What we know is that deforestation to create pasture lands and subsequent pine forests has caused a whole host of environmental problems for land and waterway ecosystems. Pine needles and sap are poisonous allowing no secondary or tertiary forest-floor growth. Thus the natural layering found in indigenous forests where other flora and fauna form part of the ecosystem is not found. Pine is very much a mono-crop. After three rotations of pine the ground has effectively been rendered sour and useless for any other crops for many generations. 
There are obvious implications for whanau wanting to develop land-based sustainability. We must always bear in mind the checks and balances that come with any situation and the cost of deforestation for future growth. 
Finally I once more draw the attention of the House back to the indigenous peoples’ caucus from the eighth session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In its statement the indigenous caucus concluded: “Our duty as indigenous peoples to Mother Earth impels us to demand that we be provided adequate opportunity to participate fully and actively at all levels of local national regional and international decision making processes and mechanisms on climate change.” 
The Maori Party is proud to stand in the House to contribute to the debate and the discussions around climate change and to vote in support of the Climate Change Response Amendment Bill.