Santa checks UNFCC list (twice) and finds New Zealand's been naughty.

Today at his workshop near the North Pole, Santa Claus announced that he is planning to leave his home of many years because of the impact of climate change.

"This may be my last year of delivering Christmas presents because my ice runway has been getting progressively smaller and thinner making it more dangerous to take off. Now scientists are saying I may only have 5 years left of summer ice in my Arctic home" he said.

"Without taking urgent action to fight global warming, I will soon be forced to permanently flee the North Pole. I may soon be both jobless and homeless! It's not a very merry Christmas" he said.

"It may be too late for my home, but I don't think it is too late for the planet. If we can reduce emissions by around 25-40% we have a good chance of avoiding a two degree global warming and escaping runaway climate change.

However I am disappointed in how New Zealand is doing, in fact I have put the Government down on my naughty list.

I've checked New Zealand's list twice with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and it isn't good. New Zealand's emissions have increased 25 % on 1990 levels.

So I am planning to pack up my workshop and Mrs Claus and I will be moving, possibly to China where labour costs are considerably lower than elvish labour.

I won't be able to take the reindeer with me, they are just one of a number of species expected to be harmed by the effects of climate change, in fact a report in Nature puts the number at close to one million by 2050.

ENDS

Santa is available for comment on 027 422 9290