“We are alarmed by the Finance Minister’s comments today on New Zealand’s commitments under the Paris Agreement at Scrutiny Week,” says Jessica Palairet, Executive Director of Lawyers for Climate Action NZ.
The Finance Minister ruled out the Government buying any material volume of offshore carbon credits to meet New Zealand’s 2030 Paris Agreement target.
“This is a remarkable and concerning development in the New Zealand government’s ‘will they, won’t they’ approach to its international climate obligations”, says Palairet.
“New Zealand has obligations under international climate law to “make best efforts” to meet our Paris Agreement targets, and pursue measures that are actually capable of achieving those targets.”
“In our view, ruling out material offshore mitigation, without any credible alternative plan for meeting NDC1, falls foul of our obligations under the Paris Agreement. New Zealand is not making ‘best efforts’, as the Minister claims, and the Finance Minister’s rhetoric is harmful.”
“The New Zealand government knows that it is facing an 84 million tonne shortfall in emissions reductions required to achieve NDC1. Save an extraordinary breakthrough in climate technology, experts have repeatedly warned that that closing this gap is near impossible without substantial offshore mitigation.”
“The Minister has framed this as a choice between sending ‘billions of dollars’ offshore, or reducing emissions at home – saying she chooses the latter. But that is misleading; it does not reflect what the Government is currently doing. It has actively wound back domestic emissions reduction policies like the Clean Car Standards, has made decisions that have caused the carbon price in the ETS to tank, and has not presented any plan for how it will reduce the 84 million tonne emissions gap with domestic policies.”
“Breaching the Paris Agreement gives rise to real reputational, trade, and economic consequences.”
“Among other things, New Zealand now has trade obligations that require us to effectively implement the Paris Agreement and expose our exporters to trade sanctions if we do not. Earlier this year, the International Court of Justice warned that states may bring legal proceedings against each other in respect of breaches of international climate obligations.”
“The Minister of Climate Change appears cognisant of these risks. To date, he has not ruled out paying for offshore mitigation – pointing to co-operation agreements with countries such as Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines as evidence they are “advancing discussions” and “considering all options” for how to achieve NDC1.”
“The Finance Minister’s comments today pour cold water on those developments, and are inconsistent with the Minister of Climate Change’s positioning.”
“New Zealand used to be a leader in how we responded to climate change – working to ensure we have a safe and liveable planet to pass on to future generations. It is naïve to treat our Paris Agreement obligations as merely a question of writing a cheque. Investing in real emissions reductions will save money in the medium to long term and is essential to doing our fair share to protect the planet and the most vulnerable.”