Jacinda Ardern’s climate policy virtue signal exposed

At the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu last August, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s unctuous critique of the Morrison government’s energy policies elevated her to green sainthood among climate activists on this side of the ditch. “The world needs more leaders like Jacinda Ardern — who clearly understand the scale of the Climate Emergency ahead of us. She embarrassed Morrison before talks had even begun at the Pacific Islands Forum — and history will remember her as a strong and compassionate leader,” Greens leader Richard Di Natale gushed on Twitter. In an outbreak of Kiwi envy, others later piled in, lauding Ms Ardern as “my hero” and “a global icon”, and wishing “we had a PM like @jacindaardern”. On New Year’s Day, barrister Julian Burnside tweeted about New Zealand, “where they HAVE a real leader”.

Last August, Ms Ardern said Australia had “to ­answer to the Pacific” for its position on ­climate change. She did not mention, conveniently, that New Zealand is forecast to fail to meet its Paris target to ­reduce emissions by 30 per cent of 2005 levels by 2030. Australia is working towards meeting our target of reducing emissions by 26 to 28 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, with or without Kyoto carry-over credits. New Zealand Climate Change Minister James Shaw is opposed to countries using Kyoto credits to meet Paris targets. Last week he claimed there was an “allergic reaction” around the world to nations doing so. Be that as it may, or not, the inconvenient truth is New Zealand used carry-over credits from its 2012 target to meet its 2020 target. Australia, in contrast, is forecast to clear our 2020 target by 287 million tonnes without the carry-over mechanism. The use of carry-over credits is not for neighbourhood busybodies to meddle in but for individual nations’ elected representatives to decide, based on their own national interests.

In Tuvalu, Ms Ardern wanted Scott Morrison to back a UN push for a carbon-­neutral economy by 2050, declaring every ­nation had to “do its bit” to fight global warming. New Zealand has excluded agriculture and methane from its carbon-neutral pledge. That is especially convenient because agricultural products and meat are New Zealand’s major exports, accounting for 40 per cent of revenue.

It was left to New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters to inject a dose of realism into the discussion in Tuvalu. Demands for Australia to abandon coal, Mr Peters said, were a “bit of a paradox” from Pacific nations seeking cheap loans from China “on the back of coal-fired everything”. Mr Peters said he was concerned about perceptions that Mr Morrison was “somehow acting incorrectly” when that was not the “real picture at all”. At the forum, Australia’s International Development and the Pacific Minister Alex Hawke produced a table showing Australia had 20 of the world’s 2459 operating coalmines, of which 126 were in China and 33 in India. Of 359 coalmines in pre-construction, Australia, with better quality and cleaner coal than most, had two new mines under way.

Statistics aside, it is up to nations to decide how to set and meet their own targets. Aside from the hypocrisy inherent in Ms Arden goading Mr Morrison about Australia’s policies, the facts are a reality check for the New Zealand leader’s groupies over here.