The Government backs down from giving final sign-off on fast-track approvals bill projects and Blockhouse Bay homicide scene examination continues in today's NZ Herald headlines.
The United Nations Secretary-General is using the opening of the Pacific Islands Forum to issue a strong criticism of governments like New Zealand’s that are seeking more oil and gas exploration.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gave a rare address in front of Pacific world leaders and members of Tonga’s royal family to open the forum, in which he spoke of a “turbulent time” and how humanity was treating the sea “like a sewer”.
“Raging conflicts, an escalating climate crisis, inequalities and injustices everywhere. The 2030 Agenda is faltering,” Guterres declared on Monday morning.
He made specific mention of governments signing new oil and gas licences: “They are signing away our future”.
“The G20 – the biggest emitters – must step up and lead, by phasing out the production and consumption of fossil fuels and stopping their expansion immediately,” he said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (front left) enters the opening ceremony of the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga. Photo / Adam Pearse
Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters was in attendance as New Zealand’s representative at the ceremony. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon would arrive tomorrow ahead of the leaders’ retreat.
Guterres last week met Luxon during his second-ever visit to New Zealand.
Despite his opposition to oil and gas exploration, Guterres told journalists on Saturday he didn’t raise the ban with Luxon, but he believed it was a futile exercise.
“The only thing I can tell you is that the oil and gas that will be discovered from now, I am absolutely sure it will never be used.”
Also in his speech in Tonga’s capital of Nuku’alofa today, Guterres committed to mobilising “international resources for the Pacific Resilience Facility” – a climate and disaster community financing vehicle.
“[T]he region urgently needs substantial finance, capacities and technology to speed up the transition and invest in adaptation and resilience.”
Members of the Pacific Islands Forum sit together for a family photo after the opening ceremony. Photo / Adam Pearse
Tongan Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni, also the incoming forum chairman, welcomed Guterres’ commitments and encouraged him to “take our stories to the global community”.
The issue of tensions in New Caledonia, one of the primary concerns of the forum, was only raised briefly by Hu’akavameiliku in his statement. The matter, he said, must be addressed through the Pacific’s value of self-determination.
Unrest in the French territory has been ongoing for months after France tried to change voting rights, a move opposed by pro-independence groups.
Forum Secretary-General Baron Waqa described the Pacific as the “centre of geopolitical interest” and at the “forefront of a battle against climate change”.
He said the forum needed to be “clear and decisive” as well as being “vigilant” to regional security issues.
“We may be small island countries but as a blue Pacific continent, we are a force to be reckoned with.”
Foreign Minister Winston Peters at the Pacific Islands Forum opening ceremony in Tonga. Photo / John Tulloch
Peters, in his penultimate day in Tonga, held a breakfast bilateral with Tokelau’s head of government.
It’s understood plans for bilateral meetings with representatives of the European Union and Azerbaijan this afternoon have been pushed due to scheduling changes and travel interruptions.
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
