December 08, 2023
Pacific nations reject drill plans
Pacific Island nations at the COP 28 climate change summit have called on the New Zealand Government to rethink its intention to lift the ban on oil and gas exploration.
Greens’ Pacific spokesperson Teanau Tuiono says it follows a similar call at last month’s Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Rarotonga.
He says New Zealand needs to see its climate change efforts from its perspective as a Pacific nation.
“The last Government actually put a large amount of money, I think about $1.2 billion in terms of climate finance of which half was going to go to the Pacific to make sure our whānaunga in the islands are able to access that putea because they did not contribute to the climate crisis we are in, which is another important diemnsion to this mahi,” Mr Tuiono says.