OPINION: Back in April, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change delivered an update that should have triggered an 8.5 magnitude earthquake in the world of climate change policy. Instead, New Zealand received only a modest tremor: a letter from Climate Change Minister Simon Watts to regional and district councils. It politely draws attention to the issue and "expects" councils to review their climate assumptions. Crucially, the 8.5 scenarios were never intended as likely futures or "business as usual". A country grappling with economic pressures cannot afford billions on policies anchored in implausible scenarios that deliver no measurable global benefit.