Prime Minister Christopher Luxon emerges from the CHOGM meeting and talks about climate finance

Analysis – The Prime Minister and his deputy discussed a $20 million investment in Pacific resilience financing and backed an oceans declaration – but questions remain about emissions cuts and the environmental threat posed by the Manawanui Navy Ship.

Christopher Luxon fronted the media in Samoa on Saturday afternoon, speaking about a big game on climate change. He said King Charles had given a “great speech”, focusing in part on the threat of climate change, which was “completely appropriate”.

“There is no doubt about it: climate change has been one of the dominant topics of conversation here at CHOGM,” he said.

“You know, 33 of the 56 countries that make up CHOGM are actually small nation states that are part of the reality of dealing with climate change.

“Whether it’s the Caribbean, if you think about Barbados and places like that, if you think about what we’re seeing in Tuvalu, where there’s an absolute existential threat, that registers very strongly.”

He had just completed six hours of negotiations and discussions with the other 56 member states of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, ending an event full of ceremony, pageantry and serious discussions about making the world a better place.

It was organized in Samoa – the first time it had been held on a small island, and placed great demand on the country’s infrastructure. Business owners had felt the disruption, with a market set up in Apia for six months to allow vendors to continue trading – and ideally make the most of the 6,000 visitors to the country.

Luxon reiterated his earlier praise for the country’s success in organizing the event.

“I think it has been a huge success. I think the people of Samoa have done an exceptional job, together with the government and also Prime Minister Fiamē who organized the event.”

He said much of the discussion at the leaders’ retreat had focused on the technicalities of climate markets and financing, partly due to the influence of small island states, which he said were considered on par with larger partners like India and Australia. CHOGM meeting.

“If a major hurricane hits the U.S., as we’ve seen in recent months, the U.S. is big enough to be able to get through it and recover,” he said.

“But actually, if it comes through the Caribbean or through the Pacific, as we’ve seen… it’s really difficult and if you’re a hotel and you can’t get insurance because the cost of rebuilding is an issue, well yes, then we have a problem, because then you will not get economic development and growth because of the climate risk.”

However, reparations for slavery would be an issue to be dealt with between these Caribbean countries and Britain, rather than through CHOGM, he said. Those involved planned to discuss this at a separate forum early next year.

Luxon said the $20 million funding for the Climate Resilience Fund was something he and Peters had discussed since the Pacific Island Forum. It was first approved in 2019 at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu.

He described it as practical and a good sign that New Zealand supports the Pacific and is a good partner and friend.

“It is exactly that we are doing what we should be doing, which is: we know that climate resilience is actually a very good place to put our development and our support.”

Winston Peters said the announcement had been prepared ten days earlier, “so it was not prompted by any event here, but by our willingness to prepare for what we had committed to”. The deputy prime minister has previously faced criticism for his views on climate change, with accusations that he was downplaying the problem.

On Saturday he said the funding in the latest budget had to be approved by Finance Minister Nicola Willis and that he was confident other countries would also join.

“The registration from Saudi Arabia, for example, is quite large, it is really quite large. And so now we have four countries going, but we will definitely get more… we don’t stop lobbying for everyone, we lobby everywhere we go.”

Australia has contributed $110 million to the facility, Saudi Arabia $84 million and the United States $42 million (NZD values), and Peters said the fund is on track to reach its target of half a billion dollars in capital.

The island states had joined this CHOGM, he said.

“The reality is that a lot has changed in the last thirty years and the fact is that island states and small states are really getting their voice in a way that they never have before.”

Luxon said if Australia and New Zealand anchor the fund, it would encourage other like-minded partners to also contribute. The forum also provided something that was long awaited Oceans communiquéwhich promises protection and protection of the health of the oceans.

Luxon said the communiqué was “very special as it really captures the Pacific flavor of CHOGM as this is the first CHOGM to be held in the Pacific Islands outside of Australia and New Zealand”.

“That deals with issues around pollution and water health, but of course also recognizes very specifically that as we see sea levels rise in places like Tuvalu for example, their sovereign territories will be preserved – that as their country shrinks their EEZ (exclusive economic zones) will be maintained as to the current state of affairs, which is important for sovereign reasons and for a number of reasons.”

The declaration promised ambitious, transformative action; highlighting rising sea levels and warmer, more acidic waters. It noted that 49 of the 56 Commonwealth countries had ocean boundaries and accounted for more than a third of the planet’s national marine jurisdiction.

It recommitted countries to climate action and mitigation, and looked at work on marine renewable energy, and sustainable design of plastics and fishing practices. There was also a look ahead to the UN Oceans Conference in France next year.

The difficulty for the government remains in actions that appear to be somewhat at odds with their words. While climate resilience is certainly important, the threat of climate change is only increased by emissions.

This government has yet to publish its first emissions reduction plan, which sets out its vision for how New Zealand will meet its internationally agreed obligations – but the rhetoric so far has indicated a reliance on carbon markets that the government’s critics say is simply not be enough to stem the flow.

And while the commitment to protecting the health of the oceans is admirable, the wreck of the Navy ship HMNZS Manawanui and the ongoing threat of environmental disaster it poses to the reef at the southern end of the very same island where CHOGM was held remains a grim reminder . of New Zealand’s own health responsibilities in the Pacific.

Despite visits to the headquarters of the team that responded to the ship’s sinking and to the other naval ship, the HMNZS Canterbury, which was moored off the north coast to support the event, Luxon did not travel to the villages affected by diesel flows , nor to the site of the wreck itself.

Actions speak louder than words, and it seems unlikely that these critics of the government will be saved by New Zealand’s statements from Samoa. Funding for resilience doesn’t hurt, of course, and there is still time for the government to take action on both climate and ocean health.

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