Moving towards a balanced earth

Address at UNEP’s Art for the Environment Exhibition Launch, 7.00pm, 4 June 2008, Te Papa, Wellington

I am delighted to join you all for the opening of this United Nations Art for the Environment exhibition “Moving Towards a Balanced Earth”.

It’s great to have our international visitors here to celebrate World Environment Day in New Zealand:

• President Anote Tong of Kiribati
• Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP
• Dr Rajenda Pachauri, Chair of the IPCC and Director-General for the Energy and Resources Institute
• Mia Hanak, Founding Executive Director of Natural World Museum

Given that climate change is one of the defining issues of our era, it is apt that the focus of this year’s World Environment Day is reducing greenhouse gas emissions and moving towards a low carbon economy and lifestyle – “kicking the carbon habit”.

I am thrilled and honoured that New Zealand has been chosen to host World Environment Day. It’s a great opportunity to demonstrate the positive things New Zealanders are doing regionally, nationally, and internationally to promote sustainability

It’s clear the world faces some serious environmental challenges.  We can easily become depressed when we hear that fisheries are collapsing, ocean acidification and rising temperatures are killing coral reefs, rainforests are being logged unsustainably, desertification is encroaching on arable lands in Australia, Africa and Asia. Massive inland seas are drying from abstraction or dying from pollution. Fresh water aquifers are dropping. Hundreds of species are on the road to extinction.

With the world’s population burgeoning, we have food shortages and high food prices impacting especially the already impoverished nations.

Add to this the pressure on resources reflected in oil prices and it’s clear that the environmental constraints on our world are of serious concern.

If we on this planet do not manage to achieve the step-change that is needed to balance our needs and wants with the resources the world can provide, then  our planet and all who live on it will be in serious trouble.

If we fail to tackle climate change, misery for millions of some of the world’s poorest people will result.

These issues are all inextricably linked and solving them is not easy.  It requires actions within each country as well as co-operation between them.  Unilateralism cannot get the world to where it needs to get. The United Nations’ role is pivotal.

All is not lost.  There is a sense of urgency now among governments, among populations – especially the young, and among businesses that we must become more sustainable.

Worldwide concern about tackling climate change is driving the development of new clean energy systems, of more efficient and cleaner methods of food and industrial production, and of improved resource recovery and recycling.

New Zealand is moving along this path, and I believe it is incumbent on us to move quickly.

After all, if a country as wealthy as New Zealand, with an abundance of renewable energy and environmental resources, a small but highly educated population, cannot overcome these problems locally, then who can?

The reality is that if we cannot, then there is little  hope the world will overcome them. It is that simple. I believe that is why the UN looks to us today: to show that we can overcome these challenges here, and so be a beacon of hope rather than a source of despair.  

The New Zealand Government is committed to reducing our emissions.

That is why the New Zealand government is pursuing a 90 percent renewable electricity target by 2025,  leading the world on reducing agricultural emissions, and establishing an emissions trading scheme covering all greenhouse gases and all sectors of the economy. That is why we have had a twelve-fold increase in funding for public transport, sustainable biofuels, and various measures to improve the  efficiency of the transport fleet.

And we are winning. Our electricity emissions are now tracking down. Our transport emissions have stopped their steep growth and are projected to flatten off to zero growth. This is substantial progress. In the process we are also reducing peoples’ energy costs. Deforestation emissions are way down. As a consequence, our projected deficit for the first Kyoto Commitment period compared with our 1990 target has  dramatically reduced. It was a deficit of over 40 million tonnes. It is now down to 14.7 million tonnes and could drop further.

That is why we have confidence that we will achieve our vision of a carbon neutral future with target dates already set for carbon neutrality in electricity in 2025 and the whole energy sector, including transport and process emissions, by 2040.

New Zealand cannot fix global climate change by itself, but we can be either a source of despair or  a beacon of hope for the world. Your government, selected by New Zealanders and reflecting their values, has chosen to do the right thing and we are controlling our emissions. It’s not costing the earth, but it is helping to save it. We will also continue to encourage a multilateral response to this urgent problem. 

Because it is the collective effort that will have the greatest impact.

Tonight we see the universal language of art as a catalyst for uniting people in action and thought. These artworks are a way of communicating climate change that moves beyond the traditional realm of science. This exhibition will raise awareness. It will stimulate discussion about climate change. It should inspire audiences and motivate them to take action on moving towards a balanced Earth. I thank the artists in this exhibition for sharing their vision.

As this exhibition moves from Wellington, to other major cities around the world, the universal language of art will carry with it a message that empowers individuals, communities and leaders to focus on environmental values. 

This World Environment Day I encourage people the world over to come together and focus on solutions and opportunities for countries, companies, and communities to de-carbonise their economies and lifestyles. I hope that you take the opportunity to attend the many wonderful events on this week throughout the country, and I encourage you all to step up, take some simple actions, and “kick the carbon habit”.

In handing you over to the United Nations Environment Programme’s Executive Director, Achim Steiner, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the vital work that the organisation undertakes in providing leadership and encouraging  people throughout the world to care for our environment.