Winston Peters Takes Crack At Christopher Luxon Over Paris Climate Agreement Stance

Lillian
Hanly Political Reporter

The
Foreign Minister has taken another crack at the Prime
Minister’s political experience, after Christopher Luxon
said remaining in the Paris climate agreement would be a
bottom line in coalition negotiations.

Winston Peters,
who is also the leader of New Zealand First – a party
campaigning on leaving the Paris Agreement, said Luxon’s
position demonstrated that “experience does matter in
politics”.

It comes as Pacific nations discuss
a commitment to remain in the agreement, which an
international relations expert said was a “commendable
goal”.

New Zealand First and ACT, National’s current
coalition partners, have both indicated they do not support
the commitment as it stands.

Luxon was asked on
Morning Report on Monday whether it was a non-negotiable
for National in coalition talks with those parties that
New Zealand remains in the agreement.

Luxon confirmed
it was, because it was “common sense”.

“We need to
stay in the Paris Agreement because it only makes New
Zealand poorer if we come out of it.”

Peters,
who is currently in Palau for the Pacific
Islands Forum meeting where climate change is high on the
agenda, was asked about the comments on Monday
evening.

Asked if Luxon’s bottom line was a wise or
unwise position, Peters said “the only comment you can make
about that is that it’s a demonstration that experience does
matter in politics”.

Asked if Peters would make it a
negotiable issue after the election, Peters said he was
“quite astonished” at “comments being made here” and bottom
lines “laid out there”.

His disappointment was
directed at those who did not “have the experience which is
required under the MMP environment”.

His judgment was
also directed at the “mainstream media” who still considered
the country in a first past the post environment, “We are
most certainly not.”

Just last week, Peters
took a crack at Luxon following National’s decision to
announce legislation banning social media for under-16s,
despite not having the backing of its coalition
partners.

“It’s a lack of understanding of how the
system works, but then again we did say that he hasn’t been
around here long,” Peters said.

On
Monday, Peters said the problem with the Paris Agreement for
the Pacific nations – who were heavily committed to its
target of limiting the global average temperature increase
to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels – was that
four countries were responsible for the majority of
emissions, naming China, Russia, the United States and
India.

Part of the commitment was also to pursue
efforts to limit the increase even further to
1.5°C.

“This is our problem we’ve got here. Can we
possibly actually honour the Paris Accord in any meaningful
way, while that is going on?” said Peters.

He
acknowledged it was “very difficult” to say in Palau because
it “doesn’t suit the conversation”.

“But we’ll have to
face reality about what the sign-up of Paris was,
particularly since New Zealand’s position was secured in
this context that food supply would be exempt.”

The
Prime Minister was asked about the Foreign Minister’s
comments on Tuesday and wasn’t drawn on the attacks on his
political experience.

Instead, Luxon said remaining in
the Paris Agreement was “very simply” an “economic
argument.”

“There’s no doubt about it.”

Luxon
said competitor countries and multinational companies that
buy from New Zealand would “simply kick New Zealand products
off shelves.”

“That’s just going to hurt every single
farmer, every single New Zealander if we did
that.”

Asked if Peters had been politically naive on
the issue, and got the economics wrong, Luxon again wouldn’t
be drawn on it, saying again “it’s in our economic interest
to be in Paris.”

On the implication of the Foreign
Minister making the comments while in Palau for the Pacifc
Islands Forum, where climate change is high on the agenda,
Luxon defended Peters.

“The investments the foreign
minister has made actually supporting climate resilience
across the Pacific says that he understands the existential
threat that it is to the Pacific region.”

New Zealand
is not on track to hit the targets associated with the Paris
Agreement, and Luxon said “we’re going to do the best we
can,” while not sending billions of dollars
offshore.

‘A commendable goal’ – International
relations expert

International relations expert
Professor Alexander Gillespie told RNZ Palau was seeking a
climate declaration that was in two parts.

First that
the countries in the Pacific needed to remain committed to
the Paris Agreement, and the to 1.5°C target.

“That
is a commendable goal,” said Gillespie.

“You want the
Pacific countries to be leading this challenge, because in
terms of risk, they are at the forefront of the
risk.”

Gillespie said the difficulty was that some
countries, like the US, are no longer members of the United
Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate change, let alone
the actual Paris Agreement.

“So some countries have
completely walked away from climate change, whereas others
have really weakened their efforts to try to confront it,
like New Zealand.

“So, on one level, you want the
commitment to confront climate change, and that is
disappearing rapidly,” Gillespie said, while on the other
hand, money is needed for adaptation.

He said around
$3 billion was needed annually for the Pacific to adapt to
climate change, and “even with the best scenarios, you’re
maybe getting $1 billion of that coming through, or just
under it at the moment”.

The Foreign Minister will
continue to meet with other Pacific leaders, before Luxon
heads to Palau on
Wednesday.

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