Greenpeace is promoting a petition that urges the Government to ” transform how we live, work and interact with our planet into the future”
SUPPORT THE GREEN COVID RESPONSE
We are at a turning point in history.
In response to the Covid-19 Coronoavirus pandemic, Jacinda Ardern’s Government will inject billions into the economy to keep it afloat.
This is a huge opportunity to transform how we live, work and interact with our planet into the future.
If we direct relief funds towards clean transformative industries like renewable energy, regenerative farming and electric transport – we can set in place a greener, healthier and more resilient economy that puts people and planet first.
It is a chance to come through this public health crisis better able to respond to the ongoing climate, biodiversity and inequality crises we face.
Join the call on Jacinda Ardern to adopt the Green Covid Response!
Their wishlist: Building a cleaner, resilient and equitable Aotearoa NZ in response to the Covid-19 Coronavirus Crisis – A Green New Deal for New Zealand
We currently face three simultaneous crises in Aotearoa New Zealand: the Covid-19 pandemic and an associated economic downturn, rising inequality, and a worsening climate and ecological crisis. As the Government turns its attention towards the long-term project of economic recovery, we urge you to plan a response that protects us from the impacts of climate change and lifts up workers and vulnerable communities.
Right now, we have an unprecedented opportunity to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, while making Aotearoa New Zealand more resilient to a world facing more extreme weather. We have the chance to transform our economy and society so that it regenerates critical ecosystems, improves wellbeing and drives changes in lifestyle that promote positive environmental and health outcomes. By thoughtfully targeting the stimulus, we can lift living standards for New Zealanders, create thousands of good green jobs, and accelerate a just transition away from fossil fuels, industrial farming and fishing, and other polluting industries.
In this paper, we outline a collection of solutions that fall under the banner of a “green stimulus”, providing jobs and boosting economic activity whilst fast-tracking much-needed projects to restore the natural world we depend on. These include:
Immediate shovel-ready projects to prioritise
- Providing finance and support for home insulation and heat pumps.
- Fast-tracking fencing and planting of on-farm waterways with Government finance.
- Attaching strict, science-aligned decarbonisation, biodiversity enhancement and workers’ rights conditions to corporate bailouts.
- Introducing a Universal Basic Income.
Priority investments for the long-term wellbeing of Aotearoa
- Unprecedented investment in public transport, cycling and rail infrastructure to accelerate our mobility into the 21st century.
- Billions in finance for distributed solar and wind, alongside upgrades to the power grid.
- A billion-dollar regenerative farming fund to support farmers to transition to regenerative agriculture.
- A sizable boost in finance for DOC to employ a “conservation corps” of people to eradicate pests, plant native trees and restore critical habitats.
- Constructing new, affordable homes that meet the highest energy-efficiency standards.
- Put millions into ocean restoration projects to restore critical marine ecosystems
Sounds similar to a lot of Green Party ideals, but the Green Party has been strangely quiet lately. There is nothing along these lines (and very little) on their website, Facebook page or Twitter.
Is Greenpeace effectively operating as an activist arm of the Green Party?