Forest and Bird Youth have revealed their scorecards for each political party ahead of the 2020 General Election this month.
The scorecards give each party a grade based on their policies to address environmental issues, such as climate change, freshwater and biodiversity. This year, the scorecard also includes a category for “Green COVID Recovery” in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects.
Taking out the top score was the Green Party, with an A- grade overall. The Opportunities Party, Labour and National scored B, C and D respectively, and the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party sat near the bottom with a D-. Lowest scoring was the Social Credit Party, receiving an F.
The scorecards comes at a time when the need to recover from COVID-19 has to be balanced with action in other policy areas, such as the environment. “New Zealand is facing a climate and biodiversity crisis; it is crucial that all parties that enter Parliament after the election recognise that we need nature, and right now, nature needs us to protect it. We are putting pressure on all parties, to ensure that our government – regardless of which party/ies it includes – has a strong, comprehensive, and transformational plan to address the significant threats facing nature in Aotearoa New Zealand,” says George Hobson, Forest & Bird Youth Campaigns Coordinator.
“The environmental scorecards produced by Forest & Bird Youth provide an at-a-glance summary of environmental policies released by parties standing in election 2020. We strongly encourage all voters to carefully consider which party has the best plan for protecting our people and our planet, and to vote accordingly.”
To create the assessment, parties were sent a questionnaire regarding their environmental policies. A panel of Forest and Bird Youth members then rated their answers based on a marking criteria derived from their organization’s expertise and research on environmental issues.
To view Forest and Bird Youth’s full scorecards, head to www.votefornature.org.nz