New Zealand positions itself as a Pacific climate leader. But local councils say the government's new development legislation ignores climate change—and that disconnect matters for low-lying Pacific nations watching what Wellington does.
Local councils are raising alarms that climate change considerations are missing from the government's new development legislation, according to Newsroom, despite New Zealand's climate commitments and the Pacific's existential climate crisis.
Mate, New Zealand talks about climate leadership in the Pacific. But when your own development laws don't require considering climate impacts, that's not leadership—that's hypocrisy.
The concerns center on new planning and development legislation that will govern how New Zealand approves construction, infrastructure, and land use for years to come.
Councils say the legislation is "notably absent" of requirements to assess climate change impacts—either how developments will contribute to emissions, or how they'll cope with climate impacts like sea level rise, flooding, and extreme weather.
This isn't just a domestic policy failure. New Zealand is a Pacific nation with deep ties to island nations facing existential threats from climate change. Tuvalu, Kiribati, and the Marshall Islands are literally disappearing beneath rising seas.
Those nations look to New Zealand for climate leadership and support. What message does it send when can't even be bothered to include climate considerations in its own development laws?
