Sage EugenieHon EUGENIE SAGE (Green): Tēnā koe Madam Speaker. I'm very pleased to take a call on the Financial Sector (Climate-related Disclosures and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. I wasn't on the Economic Development Science and Innovation Committee but like others really thank the submitters on it. Just looking through some of the submissions there was a lot of support for this and also suggestions around making some changes which the work of the select committee has picked up in terms of a lot of the amendments that have been recommended.The climate crisis is the biggest challenge facing us. All organisations and institutions have got a responsibility to reduce emissions. So this bill is really important not just because it is world-leading but because of the transparency that it will provide with our large financial institutions the big insurance companies the large registered banks the registered managers of investment schemes all being required to disclose and ultimately take action against climate-related risks.So this bill is really consistent with Green Party policy. We like regulatory tools that encourage businesses to reduce their emissions and this disclosure and as other speakers have noted the transparency that it provides to markets to potential investors about what those risks are.The National Party has talked quite a bit about the legislation being applied to the public sector but I would remind members that the public sector legislation that was passed last year the Public Service Act—has a new requirement in it on Government agencies to publish long-term insight briefings at least once every three years about medium- and long-term risks trends and opportunities. They're think pieces for the future.It would be almost unthinkable that those briefings do not deal with a changing climate. So the public sector already has that responsibility and there's been an increasing amount of guidance being provided by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet on how these long-term insight briefings are to be developed the process for them some of the criteria and I really look forward in select committee to receiving those and considering them. So this bill in applying to some of our 200 biggest financial institutions—the large ones—is providing a similar requirement on the private sector.The bill has got three main goals. It will I think really help ensure that the effects of climate change are routinely considered in business investment lending and insurance underwriting decisions. It will help those entities demonstrate their responsibilities and their foresight in looking at how climate issues are considered in relation to their businesses and it should lead to the better allocation of capital and help really smooth that transition to a sustainable low-emissions economy. It should also make our financial system more resilient which was what the national climate change risk assessment highlighted needed to be done.So the 200 large businesses comprise more than 90 percent of New Zealand's financial assets—it's 200 so it is the major part of the financial market participants. As Minister Shaw mentioned it is being looked at by actors overseas. Because our finance sector is so connected with other international markets and with players that have interests here and overseas this bill is likely to impact on what those companies do overseas as well. So we have got that major responsibility for doing something about climate change and this bill is one of the steps towards that.Just one other thing. One of the things that the National Party has commented on was the removal of the disclose-or-explain provision which was recommended by our select committee. The removal of this exemption means that disclosures for all entities will be on a common basis. The disclose-or-explain provision would have potentially led to a two-tier differential system and this recommendation of the select committee actually makes the bill simpler. So I commend the bill to the House and look forward to further readings.