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\nDavid Seymour (left) wants out of the Paris climate accord, but Christopher Luxon (right), disagrees. (File photo)
\nPhoto: RNZ \/ Angus Dreaver\n<\/p>\n
The ACT Party is calling for New Zealand to pull out of the “broken” Paris climate accord unless major changes are made to allow lower emissions targets.<\/p>\n
“Paris needs to change, or New Zealand needs to leave,” leader David Seymour said, in a statement released Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
But the demand found little favour with National leader Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who responded by saying: “We’re not leaving Paris. It would only damage and punish and hurt our farmers.”<\/p>\n
ACT has long been sceptical of the global pact<\/a>, which New Zealand signed in 2016 under the then-National-led government. Fellow coalition partner NZ First has also raised doubts, with the party saying in March the Paris deal should be “put out to pasture”.<\/p>\n The treaty commits<\/a> countries to designing climate action plans to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.<\/p>\n In his statement, Seymour said the country’s climate settings were punishing households, businesses and farmers, while doing little for the environment.<\/p>\n “The Paris Agreement demands targets that are disconnected from science and blind to New Zealand’s realities,” he said.<\/p>\n “Net zero targets have been set without regard for the real cost to firms, farms, and families.<\/p>\n “The result is farmers forced off the land, the regions hollowed out, and higher prices for food, electricity, and production.”<\/p>\n A “position statement” – released by the party – said the government should push for “fundamental reform” of the Paris Agreement but did not specify exactly what changes it would be satisfied with.<\/p>\n “New Zealand should remain engaged with our trading partners, but only on terms that make sense for us,” Seymour said.<\/p>\n ACT would revisit the country’s Emissions Reduction Plans and Nationally Determined Contributions and set “more realistic, affordable targets”.<\/p>\n The party also reiterated its commitment to a “split-gas” approach and says it would model policy on countries like Uruguay, which has adopted different targets for methane.<\/p>\n Luxon remains committed to agreement<\/p>\n Asked for his response to ACT’s position, Luxon told reporters pulling out of Paris would be the “quickest way” to hurt New Zealand farmers.<\/p>\n “Our competitor countries would like nothing more than to see New Zealand products off their shelves. And I’m telling you, having worked in large multinationals, they would just move to another supplier anyway.<\/p>\n “We’ve taken farming out of the ETS [Emissions Trading Scheme]. Very, very shortly, we’ll have more to say about methane targets<\/a>.”<\/p>\n The former Labour government had legislated to include agriculture in the ETS by 2025.<\/p>\n But the coalition last year passed legislation to stop that and instead promised a separate “fair and sustainable” pricing system for agriculture by 2030.<\/p>\n