Labour's climate change spokesperson Deborah Russell. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
Labour's climate change spokesperson says she is deeply disappointed New Zealand did not sign up to an international fossil fuels phase-out plan.
An uneasy deal has been reached at the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil which makes no mention of pledges to cut fossil fuels.
Deborah Russell said, however, that 83 countries had signed a roadmap pushing for the end of fossil fuels during the conference in Brazil.
New Zealand only signed up to the main climate action agreement which omitted the words fossil fuels, Russell said.
She said she was unsure why New Zealand had not signed the agreement, but said comparable OCED countries Ireland and Denmark did.
"I think we look foolish on the world stage for not signing up to phase out fossil fuels. We cannot plant enough trees to mitigate the impact of the fossil fuels we use in this country.
"We simply have to reduce our usage of fossil fuels, and yet this government won't commit to doing that."
'Disappointing, but not surprising'
Greens co-leader and climate change spokesperson Chloe Swarbrick said the omission of the words "fossil fuels" was "disappointing, but unfortunately not surprising", and ambition had been the cost of reaching an agreement at COP30.
"These COP agreements come on the basis of consensus," she said. "While we've ended up with this cross-jurisdiction agreement of approximately 194 odd countries, it has come, unfortunately, at the expense of a few of those large superpowers holding everybody else hostage and hence the removal of fossil fuels."
The omission was a sign of global conservative influence, she said.
Greens co-leader and climate change spokesperson Chloe Swarbrick said the omission of the words "fossil fuels" was "disappointing. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The government had been "talking out of both sides of its mouth" by initially showing interest in phasing out fossil fuels on the world stage, while domestically re-opening oil and gas drilling, Swarbrick said.
"It just really goes to show that Christopher Luxon's government is not really contending with the reality and the science of climate change here. Not just numbers on a page, but the scientific realities necessary for life on earth as we know it."
Minister for Climate Change Simon Watts has been approached for comment by RNZ.
Stance nothing new - expert
Waikato University Associate Professor of Law Dr Nathan Cooper said it was no surprise New Zealand did not support a road map to reducing fossil fuel use.
Although the stance was disappointing, it was nothing new, he said.
"The recent decision to reverse the ban on new offshore oil and gas prospecting, for instance, in the country would be really difficult to square with a commitment in the opposite direction, essentially moving away from fossil fuel use."
In the past, New Zealand had been seen as a climate leader, but recent domestic and international decisions meant it was losing that identity, Cooper said.
Several countries attempted to stop the conference from wrapping up - including Colombia - who's representative Irene Velez Torres wanted a reference to fossil fuels put back in.
To push the deal through COP30 president André Corrêa do Lago promised fossil fuels could be raised at a future meeting in six months time.
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