Graham Kennedy: Climate Change Response (Removal of Transitional Measure) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGraham Kennedy: Climate Change Response (Removal of Transitional Measure) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading[Sitting date: 26 May 2016. Volume:714;Page:11403. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM (Green): I just want to if I may conclude my remarks in support of my typescript amendment with the following comment. At the end of the typescript amendment I do make the point of explicitly saying “in light of the Paris Agreement signed by New Zealand” and I think that is the critical point I want to bring to the attention of the Committee. The Paris Agreement dated December 2015 is the one that is directly relevant to how we as a global community and a national community now plan our transformational pathway to a low-carbon economy over the next 15 years and the next half century.But the Paris Agreement makes one other thing very very clear and that is that the current intended nationally determined contributions are insufficient. I do not have it in front of me but the wording is pretty close to “current intended nationally determined contributions fall well short of what is required for a 2 degree pathway”—well short of what is required for 2 degrees. The agreement also says that global emissions need to get down to neutrality sometime in the second half of the 21st century. The experts tell us that that really means—because it was fudged a bit by the governments at Paris—that we are really taking about 2060 to 2080 and the general agreement consensus is that it is the 2070s. So we are talking about global neutrality by 2070.The Paris agreement also says that notwithstanding the universality dimension of Paris which was the major and qualitative step forward “developed countries must continue to take the lead”. Most almost all experts recognise that that means that developed countries have to get close to carbon zero around about 2050-60 so that the developing countries can follow. I have heard one breath-taking theory that New Zealand could allow itself carbon neutrality around 2090 and still be consistent with the 2 degree pathway—it is true—thereby implying if that were the case for all developed countries that the other 160-odd States parties would all fall into line brilliantly in the 10 years 2090 to 2100.But set that aside for the moment. The general consensus is that the developed countries have to aim for carbon neutrality—and some are formally stating that now—by the middle of the 21st century and then the developing countries in the latter part of the 21st century. If you take that we have to then recognise in all humility and I will share the humility with the Government that a 50 percent target for New Zealand in 2050 is demonstrably inadequate.For what it is worth I will conclude on this: the Green Party did make it clear last year that we believe that a 40 percent cut by 2030 is entirely possible. That rests on research that we have commissioned from experts around the country that makes it clear that if you adopted a set of benign assumptions if you assumed the best of all worlds in New Zealand—policy optimality political consensus private-public collaboration linear improvements in technology best practices in the farms the firms and the households; just an optimal benign scenario for New Zealand—you could get way beyond that. “So what would be the theoretical maximum potential mitigation in that situation?” the experts say and then you bring all those figures together and you can go way beyond 40 percent. You can perhaps get as far as 60 or 70 percent.In the real world we are all realistic enough to know that that may not happen but it is worth exploring the theoretical potential in the best of all worlds and then challenge ourselves—every political party every individual MP the Government every individual Cabinet Minister and every individual New Zealand citizen—to aspire to that. Let us start the dialogue. Thank you.