Trump's Era of Climate Retreat Is Already on Show in New Zealand

Yahoo

12-02-2025

(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand may already be giving the world a glimpse of what global climate policy will look like in the Trump era.
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The South Pacific nation, one of the first advanced economies to set a legally-binding net zero target, has ushered in a series of green reversals since Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's center-right coalition took office in late 2023, rolling back curbs on fossil fuels, loosening emissions regulations for the giant agriculture sector, and criticizing banks over their restrictions on lending.
A more cautious climate approach from Luxon's government — elected on a platform to revive a flagging economy — contrasts with splashy green announcements from predecessors including ex-Labour Party Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. It's also an example of the direction other nations could follow as the US leads a retreat from climate action, and as companies to electorates push back against the costs of hitting net zero targets.
Luxon's coalition partner David Seymour, due to take on the role of deputy prime minister later this year, has even raised the prospect of following the US in quitting the Paris Agreement on emissions reduction, indicating his ACT Party could campaign on the issue at the country's next national election.
'New Zealand leaders appear to be favoring immediate economic gain,' over climate action, said Alice Hill, a senior fellow for energy and the environment at the Council on Foreign Relations. 'That political expediency comes at a high price as climate change extremes cause ever greater damage.'
Concerns are mounting among climate advocates that governments globally are faltering on their commitments to lower greenhouse gas emissions, and only a handful of nations met a Feb. 10 deadline to lodge more ambitious national targets with the United Nations under the Paris Agreement. In Switzerland this month, voters rejected a set of rigid emissions limits proposed by a youth wing of the nation's Green Party, with polls showing citizens remain worried about the impact on jobs and growth.
Luxon insists that New Zealand can meet a 2050 goal to zero out its emissions, though 2035 targets submitted to the UN — which pledge to cut pollution between 51% and 55% below 2005 levels — have been criticized as lacking in ambition. Other key recent changes have exempted the country's agricultural sector, which accounts for almost half of the nation's emissions, from paying carbon taxes until 2030, while a 2018 ban on offshore oil and gas exploration introduced by Ardern has been overturned.
New rules imposed on the country's carbon market aim to slow the rate at which farmland has been converted into forests used to generate credits. Farmers had complained a surge in projects was forcing some off their land.
Lenders and insurers have become a specific target of government criticism over policies that limit business with fossil fuels producers, and even gasoline outlets. Banking executives 'are the new corporate gatekeepers, imposing moral priorities under the cover of saving the planet,' Resources Minister Shane Jones said last month. 'Not only are they inflicting their luxury beliefs on our farming industry, but they are actively de-banking mineral firms.'
Federated Farmers, a group which advocates for rural communities and agriculturalists, complained to regulators last year that New Zealand financial institutions that were members of the UN's Net-Zero Banking Alliance were anti-competitive and imposing targets for reducing emissions on some borrowers.
'Banks exist to lend, not to lecture,' the group's spokesperson Richard McIntyre said. 'It's up to elected governments to determine which businesses are lawful, not a handful of banking executives imposing their own moral compass.'
Aside from government policies, climate action in New Zealand has been stymied by issues from lower rainfall last winter that curbed hydroelectric generation and boosted coal consumption, to insufficient supplies of sustainable aviation fuel. Air New Zealand Ltd., in which the government has a 51% stake, in July scrapped its 2030 climate target, citing a lack of affordable cleaner fuels and delays in acquiring more efficient aircraft.
'The roll back in New Zealand's commitment is concerning and will be of concern to our trade partners and Pacific neighbours,' said Bronwyn Hayward, a political science professor at the University of Canterbury.
Others disagree that New Zealand is retreating from climate leadership, arguing that Luxon has focused on realistic policies with more chance of delivering success, or that the prior government had achieved little. 'We were barely reducing emissions at all under the previous Ardern government,' said Finn Ross, founder of Climate Action Company, a broker for carbon and biodiversity credits.
Luxon's administration is 'not rolling back any key environmental rules, more simplifying the process and cutting down the opportunity for submissions and litigation," said Adrian Macey, an adjunct professor at the New Zealand Climate Change Research Institute at Te Herenga Waka— Victoria University of Wellington.
And even the current government's climate ambitions are too onerous for some. New emissions cutting targets are unachievable and virtue signaling, according to Bryce McKenzie, co-founder of Groundswell NZ, a rural campaign group. 'Trump is a breath of fresh air and has finally seen through all this rubbish,' he said.
Luxon has ruled out any exit from the Paris Agreement, insisting that to do so could damage the country's global standing and exports. 'Withdrawing and ripping up international agreements means you're not a trusted partner,' he told NewstalkZB radio last week.
New Zealand is also planning to introduce new legislation this year which aims to accelerate work by communities and businesses to prepare for the impacts of climate change. Major floods and Cyclone Gabrielle in early 2023 caused about NZ$14.5 billion ($8 billion) of damage, while around 750,000 citizens and 500,000 buildings are near rivers or coastal areas exposed to extreme flooding, according to the report of a parliamentary inquiry published last year.
'We are prioritizing action on climate adaptation to ensure our businesses, households and economy are more resilient,' Climate Change Minister Simon Watts said last month.
--With assistance from Ishika Mookerjee.
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