Friday, March 29, 2024

Scientists blast paltry Government funding

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The effect of rising sea levels will be felt by farmers well before the first waves wash over paddocks with increased salinisation making water undrinkable and soils useless for pastoral farming. The In the eye of the storm, Pacific, Paris and climate change conference held last week in Wellington helped highlight the risks facing the South Pacific from rising sea levels.
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Experts cautioned it was not only Pacific island nations that faced those risks.

In a post-conference briefing, Victoria University professor in physical geography James Renwick said even a 0.5 metre rise in sea level was still more than double any that happened last century.

He believed the predicted the rise might be scaled up by the International Panel for Climate Change in its next report.

“The chances are the next IPCC will take the increase to 1.5m and we know from past sea level changes levels have risen 3-4m.”

Renwick said it was critical to meet the 1.5C increase target set in Paris to try to preserve both Pacific island nations’ existence and low-lying, coastal parts of New Zealand and Australia.

The insidious effect of rising sea levels contaminating soil and water supplies has also proved to be very difficult to mitigate against.

Estimates were the world would experience a rise of about 0.5m by the end of the century and it was unavoidable even if global temperature increases were kept at 1.5C.

In what was a debriefing of what the Paris Accord, signed late last year, meant for the region, scientists were united in condemning the NZ Government for its paltry contribution to the international Green Climate Fund.

The fund was established during the Paris Agreement as the financial source for investment into low emission, climate resilient, international projects.

The fund had US$10 billion. NZ contributed $3 million.

That contrasted with this country’s fossil fuel subsidies that amounted to $80m a year.

“It is for this reason NZ won the fossil award on the first day at Paris,” conference panellist Dr Ralph Sims of Massey University said.

NZ’s contribution to the fund amounted to US37c per head, compared to US$18.50 from the United Kingdom and US$9.60 from Australia.

“The chances are the next IPCC will take the increase to 1.5m and we know from past sea level changes levels have risen 3-4m.”

Professor James Renwick

Victoria University

“However, NZ is contributing US$7.50 a head based on $50m a year over the next four years.”

But even the climate fund itself was parsimonious.

While US$10b appeared a lot, the fund required US$13.5 trillion between now and 2030 to support low-carbon technology and increase energy efficiency.

Sims said there was a significant gap between the Green Climate Fund and fossil fuel subsidies. Carbon prices sat at about US$10 a tonne, compared to fossil fuel subsidies of US$110 a tonne.

Renwick said it was a matter of political will and NZ could give significantly more, as could the rest of the developed world.

“The US managed to find US$1t to bail out the banks in short order.”

Professor Will Steffen of the Australian National University climate change institute said the Paris conference was akin to a “telethon” behind the scenes, with many businesses and wealthy individuals from computer moguls like Bill Gates to movie stars like Leonardo DiCaprio pledging significant funds.

“It showed there is a huge motivation away from the government and how the public could drive this further than what governments can negotiate.”

That had been mirrored in the Wellington conference that Steffen said had brought “incredible” interest from a wide range of groups far beyond the usual academic conferences on the subject.

Renwick said there would be pressure on the Government to act after Paris and expected efforts would be closely reviewed in 18 months for progress.

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