Countries That Can Increase Their Ambition

13 June 2013

ECO is anxiously awaiting New Zealand's expected pledge by Warsaw. With that in mind, it seemed timely to revisit an article from last year's "CAN Collectibles" series on countries that can increase their ambition: 

 

New Zealand

 

National term of endearment/greeting

Bro/Mate

Annual alcohol consumption

9.6 litres per person per year

Annual cheese consumption

5.7 kilograms per person per year

Best things about New Zealand

Beautiful environment – some of it still unspoiled. Maori Culture. Wine

Worst things about New Zealand

Wanting to be Australia. Addiction to cars. Pathological need to spoil the unspoiled bits

Things you didn’t know

New Zealand isn't all clean and green. New Zealand is the first country in the world to catalogue its entire known living and fossil life from 530 million years ago to today

Existing Unconditional pledge on the table

It's all conditional, which means the unconditional pledge is to do nothing

Existing Conditional pledge (upper end)

10-20% reduction in net emissions below 1990 gross emissions levels by 2020

Next step to increase ambition by COP18

This year: Submit a meaningful QELRO that would require a 40% reduction by 2020, produce a low carbon development plan, tell us when gross emissions will peak, listen to the voices of progressive business leaders and agricultural scientists who can help us get there rather than the usual head-in-the-sand lobby groups, and get a new attitude

Rationale

Untapped low cost abatement opportunities. The potential economic benefits of low carbon economic development. Making good on the promise to create a low carbon development plan

Extra rationale

A clear conscience

 

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