NZ shamed at global climate talks with ‘Fossil’ award
Plans to re-open at-sea oil and gas exploration saw New Zealand named the first ‘Fossil of the Day’ at COP28.
Making the pronouncement during the global climate summit, climate activists said there are “no U-turns on the way to a healthy planet”.
The infamous award is designed to shame countries that stymie progress, when the world’s attention is focused on climate change during the annual UN talks.
New Climate Minister Simon Watts, who heads to the summit this week, previously told Stuff he did not expect the Government’s new stance on oil and gas to “cause us any issues”. But it caught the eye of Climate Action Network, the activist group that issues the Fossil of the Day awards.
New Zealand was the first country at this year’s event to receive the dubious honour.
Forest & Bird’s Bianca Ranson nominated her home country.
The Government’s decision “is a devastating U-turn that undermines years of iwi, community and non-governmental organisation struggle, and puts New Zealand and our Pacific neighbours at risk”, she said.
Energy experts have concluded the world has already identified sufficient coal, oil and gas to provide energy while transitioning to clean fuels. To limit global warming to between 1.5C and 2C, countries must rapidly decrease fossil fuel usage before 2030, climate and energy scientists warn.
WWF NZ chief executive Kayla Kingdon-Bebb said the new Government is catching international attention “for all the wrong reasons”.
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said the award was “an embarrassment”.
New oil and gas was “terrible news for the planet”, he said. In a statement, Watts said the Labour-led Government also received the accolade at previous talks. “We are focused on working at COP28 with our international partners to deliver on our climate goals and get our policy platform in place.”
In an earlier interview, Watts said gas is needed as a transition fuel to back up the electricity grid. It is preferable to importing and burning coal, he said – since the solid fuel emits more greenhouse gas when producing the same amount of energy.
New Zealand had to import record amounts of coal in recent years. But fossil gas was partly responsible: a major field experienced “an unexpected and unexplained fall in production” about the same time the hydro lakes fell low in 2021.
World leaders from Vanuatu and Palau have criticised the call to once again issue permits to search for offshore oil and gas.
In 2018, the Labour-led Government banned this type of exploration. But it continued to issue permits allowing onshore prospecting in Taranaki.
National and ACT campaigned to repeal the offshore ban, as did NZ First – which unenthusiastically backed the policy as part of its coalition with Labour.
Labour’s climate spokesperson Megan Woods said “backtracking on climate action” could reposition New Zealand on the world stage. The new Government needed to outline how it would protect the country’s reputation, she added.
During previous summits, New Zealand received Fossil of the Day awards under John Key’s leadership for failing to increase its ambition and under Jacinda Ardern for backing a plan to spend two years discussing a fund to cover the “loss and damage” that vulnerable communities were experiencing.