Hon Dr Nick Smith
Minister for Climate Change Issues
Hon Tim Groser

Minister Responsible for International Climate Change Negotiations

Media Statement

Govt welcomes substantial climate change progress at Cancún

Ministers Tim Groser and Nick Smith today welcomed the substantial progress made at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Cancún, Mexico, saying it represented a significant step forward towards a global, legally binding and comprehensive agreement on climate change.

"The Cancún Agreements are the most significant internationally on climate change in a decade and provides for moving forward positively after the loss of confidence a year ago in Copenhagen. Key components of the Cancún Agreements include the framework for emission reductions targets for developed countries and mitigation actions for developing countries; systems for measurement, reporting and verification; enhanced actions to assist adaption, measures to reduce deforestation; a new Green Climate Fund and the development and transfer of green technologies," Mr Groser said.

"The major breakthrough that New Zealand welcomes is the eloquent mix of measures that have both developed and developing countries contributing to solutions for climate change. New Zealand has argued that a simple extension of the Kyoto Protocol only covering 27% of global emissions would not work”, Dr Smith said. "New Zealand can be particularly proud of the critical role Tim Groser brought to these solutions in facilitating negotiations over measurement, reporting and verification covering developed and developing countries’ commitments. This contribution has been acknowledged by many countries in Cancún."

New Zealand has not achieved every element of what we sought to advance here at Cancún in a number of areas like agriculture and forestry but we will have the opportunity to advance these important issues of detail as the negotiations progress forward next year. We still have a way to go as we prepare for the next round of negotiations in Durban, South Africa to achieve our goal of a workable, comprehensive and legally binding outcome," Mr Groser concluded.

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