WELLINGTON (NEW ZEALAND) – New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s government is to declare a climate emergency. This has come in the wake of increasing pressure for action to tackle global warming.
The government will put forward a motion to declare the emergency next Wednesday.
Ardern said, according to state broadcaster TVNZ, “We’ve always considered climate change to be a huge threat to our region, and it is something we must take immediate action on.”
“Unfortunately, we were unable to progress a motion around a climate emergency in parliament in the last term, but now we’re able to.”
The newly elected members of parliament were sworn in on Tuesday and got back to working again on Wednesday in New Zealand’s most diverse parliament ever.
If a climate emergency is passed, New Zealand would join the likes of countries such as Canada, France and Britain who have taken efforts in tackling climate change.
Last week, Japanese lawmakers declared a climate emergency and expressed their full commitment to a firm timetable for net-zero emissions.
