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Response: The Paris Agreement

 

Image: IPCC

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This was an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to deal with mitigating greenhouse-gas emissions, to develop adaptation strategies, and how this could be financed. The goal was to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C by reducing emissions as soon as possible. Adopted by 196 state parties 12 December 2015, it was signed by 189 countries by February 2020. Under the agreement (Article 4, paragraph 2) each nation that signed, including New Zealand, must determine, plan, and regularly report their contribution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. These pledges are called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Aims and processes

The aim is (was) to reach peak global greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, and to thereafter rapidly reduce emissions based on the best available science. To do so means reaching net zero emissions during the second half of this century.

Each climate plan reflected each country’s ambition for reducing emissions, taking into account its domestic circumstances and capabilities. This because some countries could achieve this sooner based on their sustainable development goals and efforts to eradicate poverty, as these are critical development priorities for many developing countries.

International targets: 

  • 5% reduction below 1990 gross emissions for the period 2013-2020: failed
  • 30% reduction below 2005 (or 11% below 1990) gross emissions for the period 2021-2030: failing

The Paris Agreement in 2015 looked to have changed climate aspiration, but here we are 8 years later still discussing action plans, when these should have been in place already. – Nature Climate Change 2024

New Zealand’s original targets:

In December 2019, the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act was passed to support New Zealand’s goals under the Paris Agreement.

  New Zealand’s 2025 revised targets:

  •  Biogenic targets scrapped
  • Net emissions will be reduced by 51–55% below gross 2005 levels by 2035
  • See New Zealand’s 2025 NDC report
  • This revised target contradicted by Government reversing all policies to enable emissions reductions:
Overall, New Zealand’s commitments to reduce net emissions weren’t enough to stay within what the IPCC deemed as ‘safe’ temperature increase of 1.5°C above pre-Industrial levels. Our commitments also exceed the ‘dangerous’ 2°C levels. Click Figure 2 to be taken to the 2019 Nature article that goes into more detail.  In December 2025, New Zealand was re-evaluated from ‘Insufficient’ to ‘Highly Insufficient’ (Fig. 3). See Aotearoa polices and strategies (this website).
 

Government climate strategy: Let it burn – Marc Daalder, Newsroom, Nov. 2025

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