Long a model for climate action, New Zealand is taking heat for letting up on its goals to decarbonize.
What's happening?
The island nation in the South Pacific Ocean is moving toward climate adaptation rather than mitigation. Part of the problem is that neighboring Australia is rowing in the other direction, NBC News reported.
A new, more conservative government in New Zealand is looking to open up offshore oil and gas exploration and sidestep environmental studies for major development projects, according to the outlet. The country stopped offering electric vehicle subsidies and "delayed the introduction of world-first agricultural emissions pricing to the next decade, despite almost half of the country's emissions coming from agriculture."
"We're not the poster country that we used to be," Massey University professor of sustainable energy Ralph Sims said.
New Zealand Climate Change Minister Simon Watts told NBC that the country has earmarked $400 million over the next four years to manage such pollution with a technology-based approach. He added that the country would still reach net-zero carbon pollution by 2050, though one expert was skeptical.
"It's going to be very challenging for New Zealand to meet its obligations without being much more stringent on reducing its domestic emissions," Sims said.
Why is this important?
The Asia-Pacific region is threatened by natural disasters, perhaps more so than any other area. With more than 64 million people affected, it is the site of 80% of climate-induced displacement, according to the United Nations. New Zealand is home to 5.2 million people.
The rising global temperature is making extreme weather more common and more severe. That's because polluting gases such as carbon dioxide and methane heat up Earth. Warmer air holds more moisture, so water vapor accumulates as well, trapping more heat and creating a positive feedback loop.
The biggest resulting risks in New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific come from monsoon rains, floods, tropical cyclones, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides, according to the U.N. The Pacific Islands are facing catastrophic sea level rise over the next three decades, and their officials and citizens are asking for help from neighbors and other more powerful countries that are most responsible for the climate crisis.
What's being done about New Zealand's pollution goals?
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has said the government remains committed to developing renewable energy. But critics want it to do more.
New Zealand is among the worst per-capita polluters of the 38 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to NBC. It must reduce its gross pollution by at least 44% by 2030 to remain on track to help the global need to keep warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius from preindustrial levels, per the Climate Action Tracker.
"In August, a coalition of Australian and New Zealand [nongovernmental organizations] called on the two countries to declare their support for a new goal of $1 trillion a year to help Pacific Island and other lower-income countries mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change," NBC reported.
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