As Australia focuses more on climate change, New Zealand is accused of backing down

Two major countries' approach to climate change has been turned on its head Down Under.

Australia and New Zealand, whose governments both changed hands in recent national elections, have experienced something of a role reversal on climate change, with consequences for their own populations as well as for the South Pacific region where they are dominant players.

According to the United Nations, the Asia-Pacific region is the most disaster-prone region in the world, accounting for nearly 80% of global climate-related displacement.

Rising sea levels, ocean warming and acidification, unpredictable rainfall patterns and persistent droughts are having a particularly large impact on small Pacific island states such as Palau, Tuvalu and Kiribati, threatening their socioeconomic viability, tourism industries and existence itself as the ocean swallows more and more of their land.

Australia, long seen as a climate laggard, has taken a more aggressive stance under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Labor government.

New Zealand, meanwhile, has been accused of failing to meet its climate targets under the conservative government of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, who succeeded former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last year.

Luxon told Radio New Zealand's Morning Report last month that he “rejects” such criticism and that his government is “deeply committed to net zero carbon by 2050” and prioritizing renewable energy development. His office did not respond to a request for comment.

Although the country of 5 million is a relatively small emitter of greenhouse gases worldwide, it has one of the highest per capita emissions rates among the 38 major countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

“We are no longer the model country we once were,” said Ralph Sims, a professor of sustainable energy at Massey University in New Zealand.

Critics argue that both countries are lagging behind on the path to this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), which begins on Monday in Azerbaijan.

“I don’t think they have a good image of what they’re doing in the region,” Sarah Clement, an associate professor of environmental policy at the Australian National University, said of Australia.

Australia: Big promises from a fossil fuel giant

When Albanese came to power in 2022, he vowed to lead the country out of a climate-damaging corner. His foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the new Labor government would “stand shoulder to shoulder with our Pacific family” in the fight against climate change.

The government has legislated higher emissions reduction targets, introduced a “safeguard mechanism” to serve as a carbon cap on the country's biggest emitters, and negotiated a vehicle efficiency standard aimed at incentivizing the use of highly polluting cars.

But critics, including the Climate Action Tracker, say the Australian government has “failed” to deliver on its climate promises.

“We have seen a positive change in rhetoric and announcements since the 2022 election. Whether this translates into actual action and results is a different story,” said Polly Hemming, director of the climate and energy program at the Australia Institute, an independent public policy think tank.

“Standing shoulder with Pacific Island nations does not appear to mean doing everything that Pacific Island leaders have asked for,” Hemming said.

Albanese's office and the office of his climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, did not respond to requests for comment.

Australia was particularly criticized at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in the Pacific island nation of Samoa last month. Senior officials from Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Fiji pointed to a report that found Australia, Canada and Britain have been responsible for 60% of emissions from fossil fuel extraction in the Commonwealth's 56 members since 1990, despite accounting for just 6% of the total make up the population of the Commonwealth.

Wong responded that Australia cannot be held responsible for emissions from coal and gas that it exports to other countries.