Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says the government made a "principled decision to withdraw". Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
An international coalition for phasing out fossil fuels says it told the government after the election it would have to quit the group if it re-started looking for new oil and gas, contradicting what Climate Change Minister Simon Watts previously told the media.
Before last year's world climate summit, Watts told Newsroom he did not expect New Zealand would have to leave the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance once the repeal of the offshore exploration ban went through.
But the alliance has put out a statement, saying it had made the New Zealand government aware of the implications of restarting exploration after the October 2023 election.
It said the 2018 ban was the basis of New Zealand's status as Associate Member of the alliance.
Watts said that while there was some limited dialogue with the Beyond Oil and Gas Secretariat post the election, New Zealand officials remained of the view that there were grounds that meant New Zealand could continue to qualify for associate membership, without the offshore oil and gas exploration ban.
He said an officials' meeting with the secretariat after he made the statement clarified that once the legislation was repealed, the secretariat believed New Zealand would no longer be eligible.
He said the government had "made a principled decision to withdraw".
New Zealand [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/565147/nz-pulls-out-of-global-coalition-for-phasing-out-fossil-fuels quietly exited the group on 21 June.
In a statement explaining New Zealand's exit, the alliance said it had informed the government that repealing the ban would be a breach of its membership commitments.
"Following the election in October 2023, BOGA initiated a dialogue with the incoming government of New Zealand regarding their pledge to repeal the 2018 ban, which was the basis of their status as associate member of the alliance. The government of New Zealand was made aware of the implications of repealing the ban, and was informed that when the legislation passed, they would be in breach of their membership commitment and would leave the Alliance," it said.
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said it was never credible for Watts to claim New Zealand that could remain in the alliance while gutting the policies that gained the country entry in the first place.
"The government was warned, as far back as the elections in 2023, that rolling back the ban on fossil fuel exploration and extraction would put our membership in the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance at serious risk. Knowing this, Minister Watts proceeded to publicly assure New Zealanders that everything would be fine and that there'd be no backlash from the international community," she said.
She said if the government cared about energy security it would invest the $200 million it has allocated for for fossil fuel fields into distributed renewable energy.
Watts, however, said New Zealand had one of the most renewable electricity sectors in the world and the government had been looking at all options to extend the supply of fossil gas as a "critical energy." He has said gas would play an important role in New Zealand's energy until viable alternatives were found.
When the exit was announced WWF NZ called it "an international embarrassment", while Greenpeace said there was a "growing risk that the government's reversal of climate change policies will result in backlash from New Zealand's trading partners."
New Zealand was a founding member of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance and helped launch it 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.
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