Climate Change Minister Simon Watts is attending the COP28 summit in Dubai. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
New Zealand negotiators are among a group working on an alternative text at the COP28 global climate summit, after concern the current draft agreement does not go far enough.
The wording of the draft text does not make a firm commitment to transition away from fossil fuels, rather it describes working towards a reduction of their consumption and production.
Nearly 200 countries are attending the talks with the summit set to close on Tuesday.
The new draft of a COP28 agreement, published by the United Arab Emirates' presidency of the summit, proposed various options but did not refer to a "phase out" of all fossil fuels, which had been included in a previous draft.
Instead it listed eight options that countries "could" use to cut emissions, including: "reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner so as to achieve net zero by, before, or around 2050".
Other actions listed included: Tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030, "rapidly phasing down unabated coal" and scaling up technologies including those to capture CO2 emissions to keep them from the atmosphere.
"It [the draft] does not go far enough" - Simon Watts
New Zealand's Climate Change Minister Simon Watts, who is at the summit, said the draft text of the COP28 summit agreement did not go far enough.
Watts said the text did not even align with the current global commitment to limit global warming by 1.5 degrees.
"I've been in meetings alongside the COP presidency with USA, Canada, UK, Japan and Australia and conveyed on behalf of New Zealand that the wording in the draft text does not convey the degree of ambition required and that needs to be rectified and that has come across very loud and clear."
The wording in the draft text had the word "could" in it, rather than a firm commitment to transition away from fossil fuels, he said.
"That is not aligned with the science and not aligned with our commitment to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees."
New Zealand was not alone in that view, but the challenge was that it was a consensus process and some countries had differing views, he said.
Watts said he expected that representatives would be working through the night, but it was critically important to get an outcome, particularly for Pacific countries.
"Our role here is to advocate strongly on their behalf and that's what we'll do."
Watts said he would likely return to the session to make "a public comment on behalf of New Zealand in terms of where we see the situation and reinforce the position of our colleague countries that we need more ambition".
New Zealand along with the five countries it has aligned with was involved with the drafting, he said.
Asked whether the government's move to restart oil and gas exploration offshore was hampering efforts to get New Zealand's position across Watts said "no, absolutely not".
"We are consistent in our position here and we're working very collaboratively with like-minded countries in terms of this text."
- RNZ / Reuters