Press Release – New Zealand Government
Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett has announced New Zealands intention to extend ratification of both the Climate Change Convention and the Paris Agreement to include Tokelau.Hon Paula Bennett
Minister for Climate Change Issues
17 November 2016
Paris Agreement will be extended to include Tokelau
Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett has announced New Zealand’s intention to extend ratification of both the Climate Change Convention and the Paris Agreement to include Tokelau.
Minister Bennett was speaking from Marrakech where countries who signed up to the Paris Agreement have just convened the historic first meeting of Parties to the Agreement.
“This is a significant step, not only for Tokelau, but also for New Zealand and for the Pacific,” Minister Bennett says.
“New Zealand and Pacific countries are serious about addressing climate change at home and in the world, particularly in the Pacific where we can really help to make a difference.
“We are providing up to $200 million for climate-related support over four years, the majority of which will benefit the Pacific. We’ll be building stronger public infrastructure, supporting clean and affordable energy, strengthening disaster preparedness, and supporting low-carbon economic growth.
“I have seen for myself the projects New Zealand already has under way. Tuvalu is on course to generate all of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025 and in Tokelau, all three atolls are now effectively 100 percent renewable energy from solar generation.
“New Zealand and Pacific countries are aligned in pushing for a strong global response to climate change and I look forward to working with all Pacific countries to further the work we have started in Marrakech.”
New Zealand’s National Statement, COP22 Marrakech 2016
I join others in welcoming the entry into force of the Paris Agreement. This is a remarkable achievement just one year on from the agreement being negotiated and it demonstrates that there is real global momentum around taking action on climate change.
Now it’s time to turn that momentum into action.
I thank the COP Presidency, the Government of Morocco, for making this the ‘action COP’ and using the programme to highlight examples of successful climate action.
New Zealand has an ambitious NDC that is going to be challenging to meet, but we are committed to genuinely ‘bending the curve’ and making real emissions reductions. We have put in place an extensive work program to look at how we can reduce our emissions, how we can encourage the planting of forests to create carbon sinks, and how we can develop high-integrity international carbon markets.
Our unique emissions profile, with almost have of emissions coming from agriculture, means we are committed to investing in the science needed to reduce emissions from animals but also to ensuring the importance of agriculture in global food security is recognised.
It is been of great value at this COP to exchange ideas with other climate change ministers who are wrestling with similar challenges.
I am heartened to see that since the Paris COP last year there has been action to address international aviation emissions in ICAO and agreement on an amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase down hydrofluorocarbons.
New Zealand will continue to focus on helping our Pacific cousins mitigate and adapt to climate change. The threat of climate in change in the Pacific is already very real. New Zealand has committed $200m to climate related support for the Pacific over the next four years. The Pacific Energy Conference hosted by the EU and New Zealand this year saw more than $1 billion mobilized for renewable energy in the
I am pleased to announce that my government will formally advise the Secretariat of the United Nations that New Zealand’s ratification of the Paris Agreement should now also apply to Tokelau.
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Content Sourced from scoop.co.nz
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