Fighting climate change 14,000 miles from Washington

Fighting climate  change 14,000 miles from  Washington.

Five years  ago,New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was a climate star pushing the country to become one of the first advanced economies to set  legally binding targets for net-zero emissions. Today, the South Pacific island nation  could give the world a glimpse of what global climate policy will look like in the Trump  era.
The center-right coalition of new Prime Minister Christopher  Luxon, who takes office  at the end of 2023, is  easing restrictions on fossil fuels,  easing emissions  rules for the  steel giant and criticizing banks  for lending restrictions.
The more cautious climate approach  of Luxon's government — elected on a platform  aimed at reviving a flagging economy — contrasts with  the green  promises of her predecessor Ardern. It's also an example of  where other  countries could  go as the  United States retreats from climate  action and  businesses and voters push back against the costs of  achieving net-zero emissions targets.
Christopher Luxon,  Prime Minister of New  Zealand Photo: Brendon  O'Hagan/Bloomberg
Luxon's coalition  partner, David Seymour,  who will take  over as deputy prime minister later this year, has  also raised the  possibility of following the  United States in  exiting the Paris Agreement on emissions  reductions, suggesting his ACT  party could campaign on the issue  in the country's national  election.
"New Zealand's leaders appear to be  prioritizing immediate economic  benefits" over climate action, said Alice Hill, a senior fellow at the  Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.  "This political  opportunism comes at a high  price, as  extreme climate change  is causing ever-increasing damage." »
Climate advocates are  increasingly concerned that governments  around the world are  reluctant to meet their commitments to  reduce greenhouse gas  emissions and  that only a handful of  countries have met a  February 10 deadline to  submit more ambitious national targets  to the United Nations under the Paris Agreement. In Switzerland this month, voters rejected a set of  strict emissions  caps proposed by a youth wing of the  country's Green Party, with polls showing  that citizens  remain concerned about the impact on jobs and  economic growth.
Luxon insists New Zealand can  achieve net zero  emissions by 2050, although the 2035 targets  presented to the UN  – which  commit to  reducing emissions  by 51%  to 55%  from 2005 levels  – have been  criticised as lacking ambition. Other  major recent changes have exempted the country's agricultural sector, which accounts for almost half of the  country's emissions, from paying carbon taxes until 2030, while a ban on offshore oil and gas exploration introduced  in 2018 by Ardern has been  repealed.