National Federation Party Leader Professor Biman Prasad says the Climate Change Bill 2021 cannot be supported in its present form as the amendments that have been made are very minor and it lacks proper clarity.
Prasad says they are not opposed to Fiji having a climate change law but we must not rush into it.
He says there are many grey areas in the bill in need for more extensive and meaningful consultation to ensure the new law is relevant in the Fiji context.
Prasad says while they appreciate the government initiative to ensure that we have a law in place prior to COP26, they feel we must ensure that it is relevant to Fiji.
He says securing climate finance is important but the legislation must be robust and acceptable to our people.
Prasad says we must not rush into making laws and sometimes its better not to have a law than to have a bad law which is not understood by the people and cannot be implemented in an effective manner.
The NFP Leader also says that the proposed bill provides a wide range of powers to the responsible minister and the director which needs clarity.
