Climate Change: Actions have consequences

In 2022, the government of Aotearoa made a historic free trade agreement with the European Union. In addition to the usual clauses about tarriffs, quotas, trade barriers, and so on, it included clauses in which the parties committed not to undermine the Paris climate agreement or weaken their environmental protections, and the power to apply sanctions if those provisions were breached. Since then, the National-led regime has repealed all effective climate policy, broken the linkage between our domestic goals and our Paris targets, refused to follow the spirit of the Paris agreement in setting new targets, and openly talked of refusing to meet our commitments when they come due. In other words, they've Fucked Around. And now they're about to Find Out, with a Dutch group launching a formal complaint that Aotearoa has broken the FTA:

A Dutch environmental group claims New Zealand has broken its climate change promises in the free trade agreement with the EU and is lodging the first complaint of its kind through the European Commission.

The group, Both ENDS, is using the complaints mechanism known as Single Entry Point and said this first climate test could be precedent setting.

The most extreme consequences could be losing access to the lucrative European market, but the group is seeking compliance rather than the suspension of trade benefits.

It claims New Zealand failed to uphold its legal commitments in the EU-NZ FTA not to weaken environmental protections in order to "encourage trade or investment," and to effectively implement the Paris Agreement.

But the Trade Minister is firing back, saying its "not for overseas countries, organisations or lobby groups to tell New Zealand how to meet its obligations".

But actually it is, since we agreed to that in the FTA. But I guess we can't expect this regime to understand the treaties it is party to, since it wilfully misunderstands te Tiriti, the treaty which legitimises it and permits it to exist.

As for what's at stake, McClay was crowing just a few months ago about how the FTA had led to $3 billion of extra trade with the EU. All of that of course is contingent on New Zealand keeping its word, and it will go away if we don't. The solution of course is for National to keep its word: to uphold the Paris Agreement, meet our emissions targets, and not roll back environmental policy to advantage business. If they don't want to do that, then we should get a new government which will.