Deborah Russell: Labour's climate spokesperson talks about attending COP30 summit in Brazil

Labour's climate spokesperson says she's attending the UN's annual climate summit to become better informed. 

Deborah Russell will join Climate Change Minister Simon Watts and a New Zealand delegation at COP30 in Brazil. 

Climate scientists have warned the world's likely to blow past 1.5 degrees of warming. 

Russell says we'll be faced with absolute disaster if we can't pull this back somehow. 

She told Heather du Plessis-Allan that she wants to learn more about methane - and some of world's solutions around agriculture. 

Russell says that's a pressing problem in New Zealand and it helps if as many of us as possible know as much as possible. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Afternoon. The world has failed to meet its big target
of limiting the rising global temperatures to one point five
degrees celsius. The UN now says that we are likely
to breach this threshold in the next decade. And they
say this because, of course, world leaders are making their
way to the COP thirty summit in Brazil, including a
New Zealand delegation of fifteen people, and among them is
Deborah Russell, Labour's climate change spokesperson.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Hello, Debrah, sure, Heather, how are you well?

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Thank you? What is the point in going to an
annual get together that has already failed?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
All the get together hasn't failed. We actually need to
keep on working to keep the warming of the planet
as low as possible. Yes, we've missed that one point five,
but we can hopefully still pull it back and the
only way we're going to do that is by all
of us working together.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
I mean, why I say it's failed is because four
cops are go a COP twenty six. The whole point
of the thing was to keep one point five alive
and it's failed within four years. It's a failure.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Well, we still need to work on it. The fact
is that we will be faced with absolute disaster if
we cannot haul global warming and somehow so we actually
need to keep on trying to find a way to
do it. It does seem it's a really hard task
and we're not going to achieve it unless we do
actually keep on trying.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
Okay, what is your plan.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
When I get there? When I'm traveling with the Minister's delegation,
so I will accompany him to some of his meetings.
I also want to find out as much as I
can about me sane and about some of the solutions
for agriculture around the world. That's a pressing problem for
us in New Zealand, and it helps as many of
us as possible know as much about it as possible.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Okay, what I was meaning is, do you have a
plan on how we manage to stay within one point five?

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Sorry I didn't pick that, not a detailed plan, because
it's very hard to do that from opposition. But yes,
I do think we need to look at getting our
transport fleet to electric as soon as possible. I think
we need to try to get our agricultural emissions down
while still keeping our far as profitable. It will be hard,

(02:01):
but we've got to do it.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
It's too expensive. We haven't got the money on either
of those things.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Actually, don't. I disagree with that, Heather. I think in
terms of once we start to make this move, I
think there we'll find there's plenty of money in it.
There are ways to for example, to do solar power
that then is cheaper than fossil fuel power, and so on,
so we can generate money through green jobs and through
the whole transition through to a cab.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
Oh my gosh, do you know what you give it?

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Your is?

Speaker 1 (02:30):
It's triggering me. I feel like you taking batory days.
What you guys need to do. Listen, this is just
a piece of advice. Anything that reminds us of just
send it. Just get it out of the vocab, because
it's a bad time for many of us. Where do
you stand on buying offshore carbon credits? Yes?

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Or no? It's complicated. Look, I think we should be
doing our bit offshore, but one of the ways to
do it is by helping our specific neighbors with their
carbon effort.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
Yes, but do you do you agree with the idea
of putting money towards buying offshore carbon credits to offset
what we're doing.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
No, I'd rather see us doing it on shore.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
Okay, so that's an absolutely.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
No.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Labour is not going to send money overseas to plant.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
No, if we have to do it, we will. But
you spend we don't know, because we need to put
our plans and possibly twenty.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
Three billion dollars Deborah, possibly twenty four and that did
last count, not taking into account inflation. Would you spend
that much?

Speaker 2 (03:23):
Well? No, I want to try to do stuff onshore
as much as possible first, and starts planting that money
tree now, ay, not just trees. I mean there's ways
to actually get our missions down, not just to offset them.
So really do need to work on that, and of
course I want to keep the money here. Oh lord,
we all do.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
Deborah, thanks very much, appreciate your time and enjoy Brazil.
Deborah Russell, climate change spokesperson. For more from Heather Duplassy
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