Bachelor of Arts with Honours student Roger Brooking proposed four key recommendations as part of a select committee submission to Parliament on the Climate Change Amendment (Zero Carbon) Bill.
“As part of a Criminology paper called Crimes Against the Environment, we were given an assignment which asked us to commit to a task that addresses an environmental harm for a period of one week,” Roger says. “Our lecturer, Dr Sarah Monod de Froideville, had asked if us students wanted to put together a submission on the Zero Carbon Bill, so I decided to take up the challenge.”
Roger says the National Party has been unwilling to allow Parliament to declare a climate emergency, so his first recommendation is that the name of the Bill is changed to the Climate Crisis Response Bill and that the Climate Change Commission become the Climate Crisis Commission.
Secondly, he argues that any changes made by the government based on recommendations from the Commission be legally binding, with significant financial penalties for entities that do not adhere to these changes. The penalties should either reflect the harm caused or be comparable to penalties for other serious harms, Roger says.
His third recommendation is that strategies designed to achieve emissions targets include financial incentives to encourage early buy-in and compliance, and the fourth recommendation is that all legislation subsequently proposed by Parliament, no matter the topic, be required to describe the likely contribution of this legislation to future greenhouse gas emissions.
Roger says his recommendations would achieve several key objectives.
“These recommendations would help show that New Zealand understands that humanity is facing an existential crisis” Roger says. “They would demonstrate New Zealand’s leadership on the world stage by treating climate change as an emergency and taking steps to address this crisis and provide a safe environment for the next generation—which at the moment is in serious doubt.”
This isn’t Roger’s first time engaging with New Zealand law. For the past 15 years, he has worked full-time as an alcohol and drug counsellor and has made numerous successful submissions to Parliament, as well as self-publishing a book on the role of the justice system in perpetuating re-offending.
Roger’s fellow Criminology students and Dr Monod de Froideville, as well as climate activist Ollie Langridge, also signed their names to the submission before it was sent to Parliament.
“Roger’s submission is an exemplar of the kind of civic engagement we encourage. He interpreted the assignment’s criteria as an opportunity to make a difference, and in doing so demonstrated the real-world application of the material we were covering in the course,” Dr Monod de Froideville says.
Dr Monod de Froideville also created a submission alongside colleague Professor Elizabeth Stanley.
“The argument of most green criminologists, of which I am one, is that climate change is the most significant crime against humanity, ever. To not address it is to be an accomplice,” Dr Monod de Froideville says.
Their submission criticises several aspects of the Zero Carbon Bill, from the types of emissions covered to the role of the Climate Change Commission to the Bill’s limited regard for the Treaty of Waitangi.
“We would like to see a number of changes to the Bill,” Dr Monod de Froideville says. “We would like to see a limit of 1.5 degrees warming set by the Bill, we would like to see the Bill take the Treaty of Waitangi into account more fully, and we would like to see the Climate Change Commission be independent of government.
“We would also like to see fewer limits on the types of emissions covered by the Bill, and we would like the potential reliance on international carbon off-sets and the limited legal accountability for those who breach the Bill addressed. We would also like to see a section in the Bill requiring governments to include climate change actions in their budget planning.”
These actions would be one small step towards mitigating the enormous threat we face as a planet, Dr Monod de Froideville says.
“It is critically important to address climate change. Life on earth is at stake.”