Source: Radio New Zealand
New Zealand’s four electricity gentailers were recently given permission to stockpile coal at Huntly power station to improve security of supply. RNZ
New Zealand is yet to join a group of countries pushing for a ‘road map’ to phase out fossil fuels at this year’s global climate summit.
Formal negotiations are due to end today at COP30, in Belém in Brazil’s Amazon region.
However, government ministers and other negotiators were still thrashing out the detail late into the night yesterday, including on a possible ‘mutirão decision’ that would cover several major issues not on the formal agenda.
One of the biggest sticking points is whether countries should agree to work together on a ‘road map’ to globally phase out fossil fuels.
Countries committed to a landmark deal at COP28 two years ago to “transition away from fossil fuels” – the first time the main cause of climate change had even been formally acknowledged at the summit.
Since then, attempts to flesh out what that might mean have been blocked by petro-states.
On Wednesday (Tuesday evening in Brazil), a group of about 80 countries, including the UK and Pacific Island nations, joined the call to put a ‘road map’ on the table.
New Zealand was not among them so far.
New Zealand’s chief negotiator at COP Todd Croad referred RNZ to climate change minister Simon Watts when asked if New Zealand supported the concept.
A spokesperson for Watts said it was “currently being considered”.
A national statement the minister delivered at the summit yesterday said New Zealand was “accelerating the deployment of renewable energy” but did not mention the future of fossil fuels.
Earlier this year, New Zealand withdrew from the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance after the government decided to reverse the oil and gas exploration ban and announced a $200 million ‘co-investment’ to finance new fossil fuel drilling.
Croad said this year’s summit differed from the past few COPs, which had focused on a single issue or outcome – a $300 billion climate finance deal for poorer countries was the big one last year.
“This time around, that focus is being spread out across a range of issues, from mitigation to adaptation to finance and everything else,”
Unlike the acrimony of COP29 in Baku, there was “a general willingness to work and move forward”, he said.
“There’s still a lot of work ahead, and the pace of that work has picked up a lot in the last two days.”
Long hours for Kiwi attendees
As well as the official New Zealand negotiators, dozens of other Kiwis were among the thousands of delegates at COP30.
New Zealand advocate David Tong, who works as a campaigner for Oil Change International, said attendees were now running on very little sleep.
“Negotiations have been extended through to midnight for the remainder of the time, though within days, that will convert from until midnight to 24/7.”
Nearly half of countries attending the summit have not yet submitted their new targets, or NDCs, towards the Paris agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels,
In his national statement to other delegates, Simon Watts urged them to do so.
“All parties must submit NDCs that reflect the urgency of the movement, and all parties with the capacity to do so must provide support to those who need it most,” the minister said.
“We recognise economies are under strain, but every step of progress helps us maintain momentum.”
Tong said many of the targets that had been submitted – including New Zealand’s – were unambitious, and the main Paris Agreement goal was under threat.
“There are still pathways where we can temporarily overshoot 1.5°C and return to 1.5°C by the end of the century, as is the general interpretation of the Paris target. That’s still possible, but every year it gets harder.”
Aaria Rolleston (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāi Te Rangi) was among a group of rangatahi Māori who were endorsed by the Iwi Chairs Forum to go to COP.
It had been a privilege to present a Māori perspective at COP for the first time, but she was frustrated by what she heard in the negotiation rooms.
“There’s a lot of contradiction. Nations come here wanting climate progress, but still so many countries are protecting the same extractive systems driving the crisis,” she said.
Her disillusion extended to New Zealand, which she said had pushed other nations for change at COP while rolling back climate policies at home.
“When it comes to emissions and fresh water, decisions seem to favour agricultural interests rather than the well-being of the environment and the people,” Rolleston said.
“A lot of experts have made it very clear that New Zealand’s current emission trajectory is not aligned with the level of ambition that is expected by a developed nation like ours.”
It was disheartening, “but there’s progress still being made and there is still hope”, she said.
COP30 officially ends on Saturday morning NZT but the summit has a history of running overtime.
A sweepstake being run by some attendees predicted it would last well into the weekend.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
