Next week the Labour Government will introduce a Climate Emergency Declaration to Parliament. But as it isn't backed by the appropriate policies and the Government has no intention of introducing any, it is a meaningless and empty gesture. And it'll also be supported by the Green's who are keen to play their part in this exercise in greenwashing..

A NUMBER OF New Zealand councils have already declared a Climate change emergency - noticed any difference, folks? - and the Labour Government is set to join them by passing an equally meaningless  climate emergency declaration  in Parliament next week. 

It will not be introduced by the Climate Change Minister and Green co-leader James Shaw but by Prime Minister Jacinda  Ardern. This is only fair. A meaningless declaration like this should be introduced by a Prime Minister of meaningless gestures.

Just like her 2017 election campaign 'commitment' to tackling poverty but then overseeing a policy agenda that has only exacerbated New Zealand's chronic level of poverty, Ardern's fight against climate change is also dishonest.

Naming climate change as a clear and present  danger is not a solution unless it is backed by the appropriate policies. This declaration isn't backed by the appropriate policies and this government has no intention of introducing them. Instead, it will see the Labour Government continuing with its disastrous market-led approach that assumes we can meander our way to so-called carbon neutrality 2050 when an upending procession of scientific reports about rapidly melting ice sheets, crop failures, and more and more extreme weather events, tell us that we have already run out of time.

The Labour Government's weak climate plans are an opportunity  for the Green Party to propose a bold and clear alternative, one that isn't beholden to the interests of 'the market'. The Green Party could use the introduction of the climate emergency declaration to propose  such an alternative and demand tougher action on climate change. But it won't. Such is the Green's loyalty to the disastrous fantasy of a 'green capitalism', means that James Shaw will stand  up in Parliament next week and support this empty declaration. And so will fellow co-leader Marama Davidson. And Chloe Swarbrick. 

It will be interesting to see if new Green MP Ricardo Menendez is given the opportunity to speak. Having already said that he wants to 'shake up the status quo', this will be a test to see if he's prepared to put his money where his mouth is and not support this greenwashing of the status quo...