Climate Emergency: Open Letter to the New Zealand Parliament

Climate disruption is an unprecedented crisis.The National Science Academies of every developed nation, along with the UN IPCC, are in agreement about the science.
They have been joined by the World Bank, IMF, OECD and other financial authorities in warning of a catastrophic hit to the global economy, along with mass migration and social unrest if we do nothing.
The latest IPCC report makes it clear: global mean temperature rise greater than 1.5 Celcius (from pre-industrial) will cause widespread suffering and mass migration, irreversible damage to the natural world, and massive damage to the world economy. We have only years, not decades, to act. Our government needs to tell the truth about this unprecedented challenge to our well-being.
Sea level rise, ocean acidification and increasingly adverse weather events mean that business as usual is over. It is no longer possible to pursue conventional economics with endless GDP growth as its target.
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, DEMAND THAT THE GOVERNMENT ENACTS LEGALLY-BINDING MEASURES TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS TO NET ZERO BY 2025*.
Anything less will condemn our young people and future generations to impoverishment and insecurity.
Poorly-constructed policies will unfairly hurt the less-well-off. So transition to a low carbon economy MUST put social justice at the heart of policy change.

* The 2025 goal emphasises the urgency needed. We know governments don’t move as quickly as is currently required. Aiming for 2025 gives us a chance to attain the 45% decrease in greenhouse emissions by 2030 (from 2010 levels) needed to limit warming to 1.5º, as warned by the latest IPCC report. Beyond that, any actions we take will likely be too late.