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We’re still fighting for a Zero Carbon New Zealand


This was far from being the ‘boring election’ many thought it was going to be – and almost two weeks after the last vote was cast, its result is still uncertain. 

We knew Oxfam’s election story was also going to be far from boring when we led a coalition of 15 aid agencies to campaign for all political parties to commit New Zealand to legally binding pollution reduction targets.

All these agencies have witnessed the number of climate-related humanitarian disasters more than double since 1980. This means that climate change has the potential to wind back development progress made over the last 60 years, creating havoc in developed and developing countries alike. After many years working in long-term development solutions and responding to humanitarian disasters in over 90 countries, all of us agree that this is one of the biggest development challenges of the 21st century.

You Backed the Plan

From secular to faith-based agencies, from Dargaville to Dunedin, the agencies – representing hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders with a variety of political views, but who are all equally concerned about the many problems our children will face in the near future due to climate change – all knew it wouldn’t be easy to bring climate change to the top of the political agenda. But with your help, we did it.

During the months leading up to the election, more than 5,000 New Zealanders got behind our campaign Back the Plan – Back to Zero and demanded a real climate commitment from all political parties. This led to a huge success as we secured a commitment from Labour, Greens and NZ First on legislation to reduce New Zealand’s pollution. But our work is far from finished.

Whatever the final election result is, we will continue to fight for a fairer, more just New Zealand.

Climate change is happening now and is affecting us all – our Pacific neighbours, our communities, our businesses and people living in poverty. We will continue to work with the newly elected government and hold it to account as we advocate for a cross-party agreement that puts the future of our children first: a Zero Carbon Act.

As the Electoral Commission is still counting the 380,000 special votes remaining, whatever the result, we will continue to call for our MPs to legislate a Zero Carbon Act and make New Zealand carbon-neutral by 2050.

Watch this space.

Oxfam’s reaction to the new US tax plan

In response to the tax plan outline proposed jointly by President Trump and Congressional leaders, Paul O’Brien, Oxfam America’s Vice-President for Policy and Advocacy, made the following statement:

“The tax plan introduced today is a blueprint for increased inequality. There is no doubt that the biggest winners in our global economy are those at the top, and this proposal will skew that even further.

“Instead of the real reform the President promised on the campaign trail, this plan offers more tax cuts for the rich and budget cuts for the poor. While President Trump was elected on his promise to fix the rigged political and economic system, these proposals will only further rig the rules in favor of the rich and powerful while harming poor families in the US and in developing countries worldwide.

“Every year corporate tax dodging costs Americans approximately $135 billion. The same tricks, schemes, and offshore tax havens sap an estimated $100 billion from poor countries – revenue that should go towards building schools, bridges and hospitals. The plans released today do nothing to solve these problems.

“Worse yet, the ideas offered today perversely reward the very companies that dodge the most taxes. This plan will incentivize further use of offshore tax havens that harm America and poor countries alike. Huge tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations will have to be paid for by cuts in anti-poverty programs at a time when need for global engagement and solutions to inequality is only growing. If anything the plans will incentivize companies to offshore more jobs and profits.

“The President and Congress should go back to the drawing board and start over with a plan that works with our allies around the world to stem tax haven abuse. Only through cooperation can we avoid a global race to the bottom where everyone but the richest will suffer.”

-ends-

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas without shelter & clean water

More than 70 per cent of the nearly 480,000 Rohingya refugees who have fled to Bangladesh are without adequate shelter and half have no safe drinking water, Oxfam warned today.

Heavy rains and floods in camps have left people facing extreme hardships, and have slowed down the building of emergency shelters, clean water tanks, and the delivery of aid.

Darren Brunk, Oxfam New Zealand’s humanitarian lead, said: “It is truly terrible to see the level of need. People are living in makeshift tents under heavy rains. Tens of thousands don’t have food or clean water. If they are very lucky they have some plastic sheeting to take shelter under – but most of the time families are huddled under sarongs. These people urgently need help.

“Most camps are flooded, including Katupalong and Balukhali where Oxfam works. For people forced to flee this is absolutely devastating – they have crossed one torrential river, just to be confronted by insecurity and pouring rain.

“Women and children are particularly vulnerable, sleeping under open skies, roadsides, and forest areas with little or no protection.”

A humanitarian flight carrying 15 tons of supplies left Oxfam’s warehouse in the UK on Friday. Materials include water pumps, material for construction of emergency latrines and water tanks. Two more humanitarian flights are planned with additional supplies.

Since August 25, nearly 480,000 Rohingya people have crossed over to Bangladesh’s South-Eastern districts resulting in a massive humanitarian crisis. Of these it is estimated that over 340,000 have inadequate shelter and about 240,000 have no clean water.

Oxfam’s response has reached nearly 100,000 people with clean drinking water, emergency toilets, water pumps and food rations. Oxfam is planning to help more than 200,000 people during the first phase of its response. Oxfam is also supporting the government and humanitarian partners to ensure camps newly established will meet the necessary humanitarian standards.

Due to the volatile and chaotic situation, Oxfam is concerned about abuse and exploitation of women and girls. Privacy, health, and hygiene for women, girls and nursing mothers are compromised, and measures must be taken to prevent any form of sexual violence.More than 70 per cent of the nearly 430,000 Rohingya refugees who have fled to Bangladesh are without adequate shelter and half have no safe drinking water, Oxfam warned today.

Heavy rains and floods in camps have left people facing extreme hardships, and have slowed down the building of emergency shelters, clean water tanks, and the delivery of aid.

Darren Brunk, Oxfam New Zealand’s humanitarian lead, said: “It is truly terrible to see the level of need. People are living in makeshift tents under heavy rains. Tens of thousands don’t have food or clean water. If they are very lucky they have some plastic sheeting to take shelter under – but most of the time families are huddled under sarongs. These people urgently need help.

“Most camps are flooded, including Katupalong and Balukhali where Oxfam works. For people forced to flee this is absolutely devastating – they have crossed one torrential river, just to be confronted by insecurity and pouring rain.

“Women and children are particularly vulnerable, sleeping under open skies, roadsides, and forest areas with little or no protection.”

A humanitarian flight carrying 15 tons of supplies left Oxfam’s warehouse in the UK on Friday. Materials include water pumps, material for construction of emergency latrines and water tanks. Two more humanitarian flights are planned with additional supplies.

Since August 25, nearly 430,000 Rohingya people have crossed over to Bangladesh’s South-Eastern districts resulting in a massive humanitarian crisis. Of these it is estimated that over 300,000 have inadequate shelter and about 210,000 have no clean water.

Oxfam’s response has reached nearly 100,000 people with clean drinking water, emergency toilets, water pumps and food rations. Oxfam is planning to help more than 200,000 people during the first phase of its response. Oxfam is also supporting the government and humanitarian partners to ensure camps newly established will meet the necessary humanitarian standards.

Due to the volatile and chaotic situation, Oxfam is concerned about abuse and exploitation of women and girls. Privacy, health, and hygiene for women, girls and nursing mothers are compromised, and measures must be taken to prevent any form of sexual violence.

Donations to support Oxfam’s emergency responses around the world can be made online at oxfam.org.nz/drf or by calling 0800 600 700.

Oxfam warns of Maria’s impact in Dominican Republic

Oxfam is currently preparing to respond to the likely humanitarian needs of people now being hit by Hurricane Maria in Dominican Republic. Much of the country is already saturated after the recent heavy rains caused by Hurricanes Irma and José. This flooding has put the most vulnerable population at risk, especially those living in mountainous regions and near rivers, canyons or areas prone to landslides.

“We are monitoring the effects of Hurricane Maria now. Oxfam staff and partner organizations are prepared to support any response that the Dominican government might organize, “said Raúl del Río, Oxfam Director in the Dominican Republic.

Oxfam will likely focus on water, sanitation and hygiene assistance. It is most concerned about the risk of dengue, zika, cholera, leptospirosis and other vector-borne diseases. Oxfam would also respond to with food aid for the most affected people, should that be required.

Mr del Rio said that there is an unequal distribution of risk in the country, where women, people with disabilities, children, and poorest citizens were all at greater risk of being affected by the impact of an extreme weather event.

As a result, Oxfam will continue to advocate for the rights of those affected and will continue to report the inequalities that affect those who are least affected by disasters.

Mexico earthquake: Oxfam sends in assessment teams

Oxfam is sending in two teams of humanitarian experts to Morelos and Puebla, with more on the way, following the 7.1 earthquake that struck central Mexico on September 19th. This is the second earthquake to strike Mexico in less than two weeks.

Over 200 people have died and hundreds are injured. Many remain trapped under rubble.

Morelos and Puebla are two of the most affected areas. Oxfam’s response plan is likely to focus on food, water and sanitation and protection. The assessment teams are made up of Mexican, Colombian, Peruvian and Spanish nationals.

Donations to support Oxfam’s emergency responses around the world can be made online at oxfam.org.nz/drf or by calling 0800 600 700.

The Two Realities of Climate Politics

Climate change is bigger than politics and bigger than electoral cycles – New Zealand can and must lead the charge against it. Oxfam is non-partisan. We can’t, and don’t want to tell you how to vote. But before you do, look carefully at where each of the political parties stand on climate change. Our future – and that of our children – depends on it.

Backing the Plan

One year ago, 14 leading aid agencies started working on a campaign calling on all political parties to commit to legally binding pollution reduction targets. As well as having many years of experience working in international development, these 14 aid agencies represent a very broad spectrum of New Zealand society. From secular to faith-based agencies, from Dargaville to Dunedin, we are the voice of hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders with a variety of political views but who are all equally concerned about many of the problems our children will face in the near future, and that some of the poorest people on earth already are.

After finding out that 14 leading international development organisations with years of experience in development are campaigning about climate, we would expect our government to take urgent action to combat this issue – like adopting cross-party support to commit to climate legislation. However, our journey engaging with political parties through this campaign has actually uncovered what seem to be two completely different climate realities.

Two different climate realities

There are currently two different climate realities in New Zealand – and they exist at odds with each other.

One reality – the one where science and facts help us understand our surroundings and inform our decisions – is the one in which New Zealand’s Parliamentary Commissioner for the environment has recommended that this country should adopt climate legislation and work on cross-party support for it. In this reality, scientists agree that extreme weather events have increased in frequency and intensity due to climate change and, as a result, from Houston to Haiti, Barbados to Bangladesh, millions of homes are, right now, underwater, torn apart and blown over. And unless we take urgent action, it will only get worse.

The other reality is that in which our current government seems to be living in. This is a reality run by electoral cycles and party politics and where winning an election takes precedent over our children’s future. In this reality, our current government – who declined our invitation to discuss cross-party support for the campaign –  is ‘happy with where we are on climate change’ even though the 14 agencies of the coalition – and the thousands of New Zealanders we represent – agree that they must do more.

What is your reality?

Since 1980, we have witnessed the number of climate-related humanitarian disasters more than doubling. This means that climate change has the potential to wind back development progress made over the last 60 years – while creating havoc to developed and developing countries alike. After many years working in long-term development solutions and responding to humanitarian disasters in over 90 countries, we are not exaggerating when we say that this is one of the biggest development challenges of the 21st century. This is our reality.

The agencies which are part of the Back the Plan campaign have never been and will never be party political and we will not tell you which party to vote for. However, we can’t emphasize enough that NZ voters should look carefully at which parties are thinking beyond short term politics and have expressed commitment to put climate change action into law.

To those parties who have not yet supported climate legislation, it’s not too late and we encourage you to do so – preferably before the election.

Oxfam strongly recommends that the reader do their own research on this topic.

If you want to see each party’s position on this issue, The Spinoff has collated all the policies here: Spinoff’s Policy page. 

For more information on this, you can visit these party’s website.

Labour: http://www.labour.org.nz/climatechange

National: https://www.national.org.nz/climate_change

Maori Party: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/maoriparty/pages/2371/

 

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Oxfam is a worldwide development organisation that mobilises the power of people against injustice. Oxfam Aotearoa is a registered charity with the New Zealand Charities Register (registration CC24641). Donations are tax refundable.

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