Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Simon Watts: Climate Change Minister on the Government rejecting the Climate Change Commission's recommendations

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Simon Watts: Climate Change Minister on the Government rejecting the Climate Change Commission's recommendations · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The Paris Agreement.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: The promises we've made are they basically in the lou
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: government rejected every single recommendation by the Climate Commission to
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: strengthen our twenty to fifty targets without spending millions on
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: overseas carbon credits. And remember Nicola Willis says we're not
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: going to do that. Our chances of hitting them are
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: slim to none. Surely, Simon Watt's Climate Change minister with
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: me this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Minister, good morning, very good morning. Ryan, is Paris over?
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Should we just be honest about this?
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  Speaker 3: No, it's not Ryan. We're part of the Paris Agreement.
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  Speaker 3: I've just come back from Brazil. We're there with one
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  Speaker 3: hundred ninety four countries. Really important that we are part
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  Speaker 3: of that global conversation and are we're at the table.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: One hundred and ninety four countries are there and we
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  Speaker 3: are as well, and we've got free trade agreements and
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: it's important for our broader export market. So no, we
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: are part of that conversation. But the targets that were
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: set are pretty challenging. We'll be honest about it.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: So we're not going to hit them.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Let's be real, But let's be real. Let's be real.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Let's be real, because your own you're even your own scientist,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: you know, you're methane guy from our University of Canterbury.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: They're saying, just just be honest about it.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: Look, the reality is is that they are challenging targets
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  Speaker 3: and like any targets in life, we have the intent
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  Speaker 3: of hitting them and we will do our best to
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  Speaker 3: do so that's what we're doing.
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  Speaker 1: What happens if we don't look.
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  Speaker 3: The reality is if we don't have milestone's on a
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  Speaker 3: journey we're heading towards twenty fifty. We have targets every
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  Speaker 3: five years, and that's an important milestone we go through.
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: But the milestone is not destination.
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  Speaker 2: Wins our next one, win's our next next time, twenty.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: Thirty, twenty thirty, five, twenty forty, and basically every five
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  Speaker 3: years there's a milestone as you go through.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: And twenty thirty we're not going to have a twenty thirty.
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  Speaker 3: At the moment. There's a significant gap.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, all right, so that's okay, and we will
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: hopefully make up for it later. But it's a hope
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: and prayer, hope and hope and pray strategy, isn't it?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, we don't actually have a plan.
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: Well, no, it's not. It's it's just reality that you know,
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  Speaker 3: we targets are said. The targets sometimes are very challenging
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  Speaker 3: and difficult, but it doesn't mean that you don't do
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: everything you can. But weighing that up with the other
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: channel and realities that we've got in New Zealand, we're
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: in an economic depression state in terms of what we
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: came into government. We've had to weigh up and trade
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  Speaker 3: off and balance what we do around climate in terms
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: of the impact on agriculture and exports. My job is
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: to work through and get that balance. And you know
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: that's what we have to do, to think about the
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  Speaker 3: best interest.
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  Speaker 2: In And you know, I get like, I get the argument,
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  Speaker 2: but let's just be honest about it, because I mean,
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  Speaker 2: do you know who can see the honesty.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: There's the carbon market. I mean, it's collapse. Nobody trusts
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: that you're going to do much about the climate. You're
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: not serious.
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: We are serious about the climate. We've got an a
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  Speaker 3: missions reduction plan with a climate strategy, and we're doing
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  Speaker 3: and we're focusing deliberately on domestic that is different from
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  Speaker 3: the strategies previously around a much more broader international play.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: We've decided that our focus is are going to do
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  Speaker 3: everything we can on a domestic setting. And look, that's
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: a positive thing because we are making some good progress
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: in a number of it.
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  Speaker 2: When you say everything you can, you're actually doing the opposite,
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  Speaker 2: are't you.
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: No, we're not right, and we've got a wig up
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  Speaker 3: norm reality that New Zealand's and exportation as well.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: But I don't want to.
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  Speaker 3: Make decisions that are going to go against and be
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  Speaker 3: bad for the agricultural See. I get to make decisions.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Economy preaching to the quiet preaching in the choet.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: But just admit it, say, in order to do this,
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: we're having to forget about the climate.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: For all, we were within our double within our free
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  Speaker 3: trade agreements, we are not able to weaken our position
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  Speaker 3: in regards to.
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  Speaker 1: Our climate target. We just say it so we can.
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  Speaker 3: No, I'm not saying I'm not saying that, but I'm
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  Speaker 3: just sitting you know that that's what's in.
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  Speaker 1: Our agreement without you're saying it.
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  Speaker 3: Without saying it, we are committed to meeting our targets.
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  Speaker 1: Appreciate your time this morning. Simon Watt's Climate Change for
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge.
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