The letter of our Co-Chair to the Government about the GPS on Land Transport – September 2024
“Dear Sir or Madam,
I’m writing on behalf of the Nelson Tasman Climate Forum, a community body of 100 members, with a 1500 email network, to express our views about the National Land Transport Policy. We are a group of citizens deeply concerned about climate change, and about New Zealand’s ‘fair share’ contribution to remaining as little over 1.5 degrees warming as possible. I regret that we may have missed the optimal time for invited input. To be frank, we have been overwhelmed by the number of needed submissions to government on topics of relevance to us.
We are very concerned that the Land Transport Policy seems to have been developed with no meaningful reference to the urgent need to cut transport carbon emissions. It is very clear that we must go well beyond the emissions reductions we can expect from the functioning of the ETS. This is relevant to all sections of the economy, but none more so than transport. Speaking from our experience of Nelson Tasman, we need much more frequent buses, and better, safer cycle paths. Lower speeds everywhere reduce emissions.
We applaud your emphasis on good road maintenance, but we do not need costly new roads. We need to reduce the number of cars on our roads by providing convenient alternatives.
All transport policy should be made under a climate change lens. To fail to do so is profoundly irresponsible to present and future generations.
Yours sincerely,
Joanna Santa Barbara“