Today, in the final days of the COP28 climate talks in Dubai, Greenpeace has put a billboard up near Parliament in Wellington depicting Christopher Luxon, Winston Peters and David Seymour as "climate extremists".

Russel Norman says, "With their threat to restart oil and gas exploration, Christopher Luxon’s new Government has marked all three leaders as climate extremists."

"Everyone wants to pass on a stable climate future to their children. Nobody wants to see disasters like the Deepwater Horizon here, with oil washing up on our beaches and choking wildlife. Restarting oil exploration puts all that at risk."

"In the teeth of a global climate crisis, it is an extreme position to suggest that inviting international oil companies back to Aotearoa to search for new oil to throw on the fire of global heating is in any way acceptable.

"We can already see in the reactions from Pacific leaders that the Luxon Government is risking New Zealand becoming a Pacific Pariah, and here in Aotearoa, if they think they can get away with restarting oil exploration without a fight, then they’ve got another think coming.

"New Zealanders fought long and hard to stop oil exploration, and they’re proud of that win in a similar way that they’re proud of New Zealand’s nuclear-free status. If the oil industry thinks that they’re going to take Luxon’s reckless invitation seriously, they should think again. The resistance will be real, says Norman.

Greenpeace Aotearoa has launched an open letter to the oil and gas industry, promising to resist any attempt to conduct oil exploration in Aotearoa. Over 15,500 people have signed on since it was launched in October.

Norman says, "If oil companies return to Aotearoa, they will face sustained and determined resistance. The last battle took nearly a decade as Greenpeace and thousands of others fought alongside iwi and hapū to repel oil company after oil company and secure the ban. Oil companies walked away with nothing but bills."

The billboard is located at 182 Lambton Quay, Wellington.

© Scoop Media