Y10 Social Studies Climate Change Inquiry Assessment 2021

New Zealand is known globally for its clean, green image, but this might change due to the changing climate. Climate change is the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Caused by the combustion (burning) of fossil fuels that emit CO2 (carbon dioxide), and agriculture, which emits CH4 (methane) and N2O (nitrous oxide). These emissions are called greenhouse gases, which are bad for the environment. This will negatively impact New Zealand in many ways. Environmentally, temperatures and sea levels will rise more, a historical example the average temperature from 1909 to 2020 has risen 1-degree centigrade; along with the frequency of extreme weather conditions such as droughts and floods. The increased frequency of droughts and floods will have a significant impact on the New Zealand economy due to the agricultural industry being unable to cope with the unsuitable conditions. Citizens' health will decline in the next hundred years with warmer summers bringing an increased risk of air-borne, heat strokes and water-borne diseases.

New Zealand’s goal is to become carbon neutral by 2050. Changes WILL need to be made to achieve this goal. New Zealand’s Politicians have the biggest impact on climate change in New Zealand. Most active politicians and citizens in New Zealand are in favour of trying to reverse the climate change effect, this was the opposite view over 50 years ago (Seems the view in most paper media back then). New Zealand's emissions mainly come from the combustion of fossil fuels that emit CO2 (carbon dioxide), and agriculture, which emits CH4 (methane) and N2O (nitrous oxide). These emissions are called greenhouse gases, which are bad for the environment.

New Zealand has many causes of climate change. The Agriculture industry is New Zealand’s biggest GDP contributor at 78% percent of New Zealand GDP (Gross Domestic Product) but is also the biggest contributor to national Greenhouse gases emissions.

Energy in New Zealand, on average 75% of New Zealand’s power generation is Renewable consisting of hydroelectric, wind and geothermal. The other 35% are fossil fuels coal, natural gas, oil/diesel. Electricity generation is the second largest contributor to national greenhouse gas emissions. Energy consumption is expected to stay at normal levels, But the balance between energy sources will change. There will be a higher demand for electricity and less demand for fossil energy sources. This is because of the rise of electric cars and electric appliances, caused mainly because of the government, global carbon emission goals and technological innovation. Fossil fuels are combusted and emit CO2 (carbon dioxide) which is a greenhouse gas. Councils have put efficiency limits in place on fireplaces, to maintain air quality and minimise greenhouse gases; for example, the Auckland City council has banned urban citizens from using existing or installing open-fired places, because they are not efficient. Natural Gas, in the 1970s natural gas fields, was discovered in New Zealand, the biggest being Maui Gas Field. The New Zealand government pushed for gas to be used as there was an “unlimited supply” and cheap. Unfortunately, we are stuck with natural gas now. Before natural gas was dominant, the main sources were coal gas and electricity. The opposite of what the ideology is today. The past natural gas ideology was/is devastating for New Zealand’s climate. The climate change commission's report recommends “Phasing out coal as soon as possible; Phase out the use of boilers that burn fossil fuels; A major expansion in the electricity system needed to start immediately”.

Forestry, the climate change commission’s report recommends “Establishing a comprehensive plan for new native forests; These can be on steeper, less productive land. Its plan assumes 300,000 hectares of new native forests and 380,000 hectares of new exotic forests are to be established between 2021 and 2035.” The government could provide funding for people wanting to establish native forests on their property; because landowners looking to establish trees might find it more profitable to plant fast-growing forestry trees including Pine (pinus radiata), etc.

Transportation in New Zealand contributes 16% to national greenhouse gases, this is a negative impact on climate change. The Climate Change Commission recommends meeting this goal “Transport, nearly all cars imported by 2035 must be electric vehicles; Road transport can be almost completely decarbonised by 2050; By end of 2022 set targets to get more people walking, cycling and using public transport”. New Zealand has the highest rate of road users per 1,000 citizens, so many people will be affected by any changes made. Currently, there is a price difference between electric and petrol/diesel cars; For example, the price difference between Toyota Hatch GX and the electric base model is $3,700 [prices were retrieved on 28/06/2021 from Toyota.co.nz, prices are in NZ dollars and may change]. But, what if people can't afford this price difference? Recently the government has introduced a “solution” the ‘Clean Car Discount’, [See infographic on right] which offers up to $8625 discount/rebate on new EV (electric vehicles)’ the rebate amount depends on if it is used or new and if its a PHEV (Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) or EV (electric vehicle). “The Clean Car Discount aims to reduce CO2 emissions of light vehicles in New Zealand. Its objective is to make it more affordable to buy low CO2 emission options by making their cost more comparable to petrol and diesel-fuelled vehicles.” according to Waka Kotahi.”

The consequences of climate change in New Zealand are impacting people's life and economy.

The Climate Change Commission is a Crown entity and its job is to provide evidence-based advice to the Government, to help New Zealand transition to a climate-resilient and low emissions future. They recently released a bill Most active politicians and citizens in New Zealand are in favour of trying to reverse the climate change effect, this was the opposite view over 40 years ago. The government has introduced standards to combat climate change affecting businesses and households.

New Zealand’s goal is to become completely carbon neutral by 2050, to achieve this we need to reduce carbon-emitting sources. New Zealand has many different sources where greenhouse gases are emitted. We would need to remove sources of greenhouses to achieve this goal, not all sources are economically viable or possible to replace with the equivalent renewable type or remove completely. There are three main factors for evaluating the best solution for cutting down on greenhouse emissions: the price of removing 1kg/h of CO2, negative Impacts on everyday humanity (including economy, life, welfare, etc) and environmental impacts (including waste, clearing land, pollution, etc). Reducing greenhouse gases produced by Transport. An increased number of electric cars and especially commercial trucks on roads puts extra pressure on electricity infrastructure. Even if all our transport was electrified, 30%-40% of electricity in New Zealand is still generated with fossil fuels. The current process of converting fossil fuels into electricity is only 30-55% efficient, so half of the energy may be lost. This is the same issue with most electric things (including cars and trucks). Turning New Zealand’s electricity grid into FULLY renewable, would not only benefit the environment but also bring new opportunities including more electricity capacity.

Big companies in the fossil fuel industry are targeting school children, climate protesters, people doing anti-environmental activities, etc. Thompson and Clark, a private investigation firm have been hired by many companies in large greenhouse gas emitting industries, including many of the oil and gas exploration and drilling companies in New Zealand and the industry lobby group, the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ). Targeting school children, climate protesters, people doing anti-environmental activities, etc; including School Strike 4 Climate campaigners, Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion and local Oil-Free groups. The private investigators do the following: Monitoring climate change campaigners organising and planning sites on Facebook and providing reports of "intelligence" back to the companies/clients. “The information was then used to try to stop climate protests, sources say. Knowing the protest plans in advance allowed countermeasures such as targeted use of security guards and police.” Spying on innocent children for personal “gain” is WRONG. This shows us companies in large greenhouse gas emitting industries will do ANYTHING, no matter how unethical it is, to grow or protect their company. These companies are worried about the risk of pro-environment and the change in society, the main thing these companies do is damage the environment.

The best solution is to make the electricity grid reform the electricity grid specifically to make it FULLY renewable. This would also bring new opportunities including enough electricity capacity to run: cars, trucks, machinery, equipment etc; on electricity that is also renewable. Currently, if New Zealand were to fully electrify all road vehicles, there would not be enough electricity capacity to do so; because our electricity grid didn’t account for this when it was established. New Zealand could create renewable power plants and fade out fossil fuel plants as renewable power plants are built.