National has thrown its support behind the first stage of the Climate Change Bill, however said "serious concerns" remained around methane targets.
The Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill sets out a 10 per cent reduction target of biological methane emissions by 2030, and "aims" for a 24-47 per cent reduction by 2050.
It is going through its first reading in Parliament this afternoon.
Climate Change spokesperson Todd Muller said they were supportive of reducing emissions, "however we must also ensure our approach manages economic impacts and is in line with a global response".
"National supports many elements of the Bill including establishment of an independent Climate Change Commission, a framework for reducing New Zealand’s emissions and a framework for climate change adaptation. We have serious concerns about the target level that has been set.
"The proposed 24 – 47 per cent reduction in methane is not reflective of scientific advice and is too much too fast. A range of scientific reports have suggested agriculture would contribute no further warming with a 10 – 22 per cent reduction, which would be a more reasonable target."
In his speech today, Climate Change Minister James Shaw said it was not alarmist "to suggest that climate change is itself an emergency".
"We ought to call it what it is. We cannot say we did not know, or that we were not told. The world is on fire. The climate emergency we are now facing will change the way we live, where we live, how we travel and how we work, how we raise our children."
"Our response, outlined in this Bill, needs to be appropriate to the scale of the challenge."
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