Climate Change Minister Simon Watts is attending the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
New Zealand has chipped in $10 million to a global fund to help pay for losses suffered by poorer countries because of climate change.
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts made the announcement at the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan on Wednesday.
The loss and damage fund was set up at last year's meeting in UAE, to help developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change.
In a statement, the minister said it was a high priority for the government to address damage that went "beyond the limits of adaptation", including from extreme weather events and sea level rise.
"We want this global fund to deliver effective support to the people in the most affected and vulnerable regions so they can recover from the impacts of climate change and build stronger, more resilient communities."
New Zealand's contribution is part of its existing $1.3 billion climate finance commitment for 2022-2025, administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Adam Currie of climate campaign group 350 Aotearoa said New Zealand should be embarrassed for announcing just $10m in light of the damage nations in the Pacific were facing.
"Today's announcement is half of what New Zealand announced last year and will come from an existing finance commitment - meaning there is no new and additional funding," he said.
"As a wealthy, high-emissions country, New Zealand needs to step up, and allocate far more for loss and damage funding."
New Zealand's contribution to climate finance, including the loss and damage fund, is part of a USUS$100 billion annual commitment from OECD countries to the developing world, which runs out in 2025. The finance recognises that many of the countries suffering severe effects have done little to cause climate change and can't afford to pay for the damage, or reduce emissions.
Nations at the COP29 summit in Baku are attempting to agree on a replacement for that funding deal to start in 2026, with developing nations saying this time, $1 trillion is needed.
According to the government, more than half New Zealand's climate funding to date has been delivered in the Pacific.
The COP29 summit is underway in Baku. Photo: AFP / Alexander Nemenov
NZ falling short on 'fair share'
In August, a report by World Vision and Oxfam said New Zealand's "fair share" of climate finance would be between $558m and $953m a year, based on gross national income and historic greenhouse gas emissions.
It said New Zealand was only fulfilling 34 percent to 58 percent of this.
However, the report also said New Zealand's climate finance had been increasing and would have another chance to grow at the second round of funding, for 2026-2030.
Earlier this year the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade supplied RNZ with a breakdown of where New Zealand's climate finance was spent, under the Official Information Act.
It showed that of the $545m paid from 1 January 2022 to 13 February 2024, $323m went to the Pacific, with Cook Islands and Fiji getting the biggest shares of individual country funding, followed by Tonga, Solomon Islands and Samoa.
As well, $30m went to countries in Africa with the rest shared between Central and South America, Asia and the rest of the world.