New Zealand departs climate action group
New Zealand has left the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, a group of governments advocating a shift to cleaner energy sources, becoming the first nation to do so.
In a decision that confirms the coalition government's embrace of fossil fuels, Climate Minister Simon Watts told parliament on Wednesday he had written to the alliance to signal their departure.
Since taking office in November 2023, Chris Luxon's government has repealed a Jacinda Ardern-era ban on exploration for offshore oil and gas, and fast-tracked mining projects, including for coal.
Mr Watts said those acts meant New Zealand no longer sat comfortably inside the grouping.
"The New Zealand government made the decision to withdraw, in good faith, our associate membership, and informed the alliance of this decision on 21 June, 2025," he said.
New Zealand was approached to join the alliance by co-founders Costa Rica and Denmark and did so in late 2021 alongside COP26, the UN climate conference of that year held in Glasgow.
A released cabinet paper showed Kiwi officials believed joining would be a "useful vehicle for advancing effective global climate action" and also "does not involve binding legal commitments".
Greenpeace Aotearoa spokesperson Amanda Larson was scathing of the government's embrace of both mining and agriculture through "intensive livestock", which she said were two of the world's most polluting industries.
In May, the government was also named by the Financial Times for accounting practices which downplay the impact of methane from agriculture.
"It is the first time in Luxon's political or business career that he has made the front page of the Financial Times - and it was humiliating. He should expect more international criticism to come," Ms Larson said.
New Zealand was an associate member, alongside California and Belize, but as of Wednesday, was scrubbed from the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance website.
Resources minister Shane Jones called the grouping "an indulgent, vanity-belief community".
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