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Newsroom
15 hours ago
- Business
- Newsroom
New Zealand abandons international fossil fuel pledge
New Zealand's departure from the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance came quietly, but not as a surprise to anyone closely following the Government's fossil fuel policies. Resources Minister Shane Jones says the coalition's fossil fuel plans meant the exit was inevitable. But he also says more formal agreements, like free trade deals with the EU, include wriggle room for matters of sovereign risk, such as national energy supply. Jones saw the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance as a 'women's knitting group' by comparison and said New Zealand's energy needs were significant enough to warrant gas exploration under that 'sovereign risk' provision – meaning other international agreements were not set for some sort of domino effect. As the Government's agenda items began to surface in 2023, chief executive of World Wildlife Fund NZ Kayla Kingdon-Bebb told Newsroom the international community's backlash against its climate policies would be harsher than the Government expected – particularly the National Party. When New Zealand joined the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance in 2021, it was only permitted as an associate member. Full membership hinged on a decision to ban onshore oil and gas exploration. Full members include Denmark, Ireland, France and several Pacific countries including Samoa, Vanuatu and Tuvalu. But coalition agreements between all three Government parties committed to reversing the ban on offshore gas exploration, and $200 million was set aside in Budget 2025 to encourage exploration in New Zealand waters. Legal advice later provided to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said repealing the 2018 ban on offshore oil and gas 'would likely be inconsistent with the obligations in several of New Zealand's free trade agreements'. The Green Party warned on Tuesday that, based on the assessment of an independent KC, the move breached another international commitment: the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability. This agreement was celebrated by Trade Minister Todd McClay last year as a 'pioneering' endeavour. On Tuesday afternoon, McClay responded to questions from Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick by doubling down on the nation's commitment to its climate targets: 'What it says about this Government is we will meet our international obligations. When we enter into them, we take them seriously.' The following morning, New Zealand was found to have withdrawn from the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance. Swarbrick said the move showed the Government was 'straight up lying to New Zealanders when it talks a big game about renewables'. 'They are handing out subsidies to fossil fuel extraction beginning in a decade, cutting local energy efficiency programmes, breaching our international agreements, and now walking away from long-standing coalitions with historically bipartisan support.' When Simon Watts assumed the position of climate change minister, he said he didn't expect a backlash from the international community as a result of lifting the ban. As recently as November, he told Newsroom that officials assessed New Zealand could stay in the alliance while repealing the offshore ban. But later that month, the co-chair of the alliance, Lars Aagaard, said New Zealand's status would need to be re-evaluated if it repealed the offshore drilling ban. Meanwhile, Jones told Newsroom he'd long thought New Zealand would need to withdraw from the alliance, given the decision to resume oil and gas exploration. A departure had been 'uppermost in my mind' when he spoke to then-energy minister Simeon Brown 'quite some time back'. Jones said 'I would never have agreed for us to join up anyway.' On Wednesday, following New Zealand's withdrawal from the alliance, Watts held his stance about international perceptions, but not about staying in the alliance. Watts said he had received advice that withdrawing from the alliance was 'not going to have any significant impact' on New Zealand's international perception. On June 21, New Zealand's alliance partners were notified the country would be pulling out of the alliance. Watts said these partners had not previously expressed concern over his Government's climate policies. He said the incoming repeal of New Zealand's oil and gas ban was clear government policy, and now he was certain it would pass, withdrawing from the alliance was the right thing. Jones, a longtime advocate for the fossil fuel sector, did not see all obligations as equal. He said the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance was more of a 'women's knitting group' than a firm legal commitment was the climate equivalent of the 'country women's institute'. 'You can go in and out of it.' New Zealand's other commitments were instruments of a different character, Jones said. 'All of these international instruments leave New Zealand with enough wriggle room to address sovereign risks, and we do have challenges towards affordability and security of power.' The Crown Minerals Amendment Bill passed its second reading in November. It was yet to pass its third reading.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
NZ pulls out of global coalition for phasing out fossil fuels
By Eloise Gibson of RNZ The New Zealand government has quietly pulled out of an international coalition for phasing out fossil fuels. The move follows the announcement of $200 million funding to support new drilling for fossil fuel fields at the Budget. Climate Change Minister Simon Watts said the catalyst for leaving the alliance was the government's decision to repeal the previous government's ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration. New Zealand joined the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance at the Glasgow climate summit in 2021. The international alliance of governments works together on the "managed phase-out of oil and gas production". It was led by Denmark and Costa Rica, and includes France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and several Pacific island nations. Watts confirmed New Zealand had exited the group after the move was reported by Carbon News. He said he did not think it would have a significant impact on New Zealand's international reputation. Watts said the government notified the alliance members in June that the repeal of the oil and gas exploration ban was coming, and removed itself from the group. He said he had asked the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade to communicate the decision in advance to Pacific countries, and had not received any negative feedback from other countries on the move. Being an associate member - as New Zealand was - required working to end subsidies for oil and gas and ending public finance for fossil fuel development. Newsroom reported in November that the coalition's decision to restart oil and gas exploration had raised questions among members about New Zealand's continued participation. The Green Party said the move was the latest sign the government cared little for the climate crisis or its impacts on the cost of living. Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said the coalition's fossil fuel subsidies helped secure profits of fossil fuel executives but made life harder for regular people. The news came a day after the Green Party released legal advice saying the coalition's $200 million dollar investment fund for local gas exploration was a "clear breach" of an international trade agreement with Costa Rica, Iceland and Switzerland. The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability deal focuses on trade in sustainable goods and services and was signed by the government last November. It has been described as a "ground-breaking" trade agreement that delivered commercial opportunities to New Zealand's economy, while addressing climate change and sustainability challenges.
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
$200m gas fund breaches climate trade deal, says Green Party
By The coalition's $200 million investment fund for local gas exploration is a 'clear breach' of an international trade agreement, according to legal advice commissioned by the Green Party. The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) is a deal the Government struck with
Scoop
2 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Govt's $200mill Fossil Fuel Handout In Breach Of Trade Agreement
Legal advice commissioned by the Green Party shows the coalition Government's $200 million 'investment' in new gas fields is a clear breach of the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS). 'The National Party tell us they're good economic managers then tank the economy; they tell us they're committed to our climate commitments then breach those commitments,' says the Green Party Climate Change spokesperson and co-leader, Chlöe Swarbrick. 'It took just six months for this Government to breach a trade agreement that they themselves signed up to. In November last year, Trade Minister Todd McClay sent out a PR celebrating signing the ACCTS. In May's budget lock-up, we spotted that their $200 million hand out to fossil fuel companies was probably in breach of that very agreement. 'True to type, we weren't able to get straight answers out of the Government. It became clear they didn't commission any advice or do any due diligence. So we did the work. 'An independent KC's legal advice shows the Government's $200 million hand out for new gas fields falls clearly within the definition of 'a prohibited fossil fuel subsidy,' in breach of Article 4.3 of the ACCTS. This 'investment' doesn't meet the threshold for any exceptions. 'There's no grey area here. This is a blatant violation of our international commitments. 'If the Government cared about energy security or regional resilience, they would be investing in distributed renewable energy. Instead, they've decided to throw gas on the climate crisis fire and spit in the face of our Trade and Climate Agreements while lining the pockets of fossil fuel executives. 'The Greens are calling on the Government to recall this fossil fuel handout and spend the money on things that will actually make a positive difference,' says Chlöe Swarbrick. Note:
