As the International Energy Agency releases yet another report signalling the coming end of the fossil fuel industry, Greenpeace is condemning Luxon’s "foolish" plan to bring back new offshore oil and gas exploration.

The IEA’s World Energy Outlook is the most authoritative global source of energy analysis and projections. The conservative IEA has forecast peaks in global demand for oil, gas and coal this decade. The driving force behind this trend is a surge in demand for electric cars, solar power, offshore wind and other renewables, alongside heat pumps and electric heating systems.

On release of the report, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said, "claims that oil and gas represent safe or secure choices for the world’s energy and climate future look weaker than ever."

Amanda Larsson, Head of Campaigns at Greenpeace Aotearoa, says "the IEA has made it clear for several years now that there can be no new oil, gas or coal development anywhere in the world. The fossil fuel industry is on its way out, and for good reason. Any plan to bring new oil and gas exploration back to Aotearoa is foolish, nonsensical, and will threaten the very future of life on earth."

Prime Minister-elect Christopher Luxon has promised to overturn the ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration. The ban was put in place in 2018 after a long campaign by iwi, hapū, the environmental movement including Greenpeace, and hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders.

"We all want our kids to grow up in a world that is safe, stable, and thriving, where they don’t have to worry about the next devastating cyclone, flood or wildfire. Luxon’s plan to overturn the oil and gas ban puts our children’s future at risk," says Larsson.

"The oil and gas industry is not welcome here in Aotearoa. Alongside an alliance of iwi, hapū, and hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders, we stood up to them before, and one-by-one the oil companies were forced to leave. If the industry attempts to take Luxon up on his promise, they will face the same resistance again."

Greenpeace has launched an open letter to the oil and gas industry, promising to resist any attempt to conduct oil exploration in Aotearoa. More than 8,000 people have signed on since it launched just over a week ago.

Momentum for a global agreement to end the use of oil, coal and gas is building ahead of this year’s UN Climate Conference, which takes place in Dubai in December.

"Luxon must heed the call of energy experts and climate experts alike by keeping the oil and gas ban in place," says Larsson. "New Zealand must support a global agreement to end the use of oil, coal and gas urgently and fairly, starting with an immediate end to all new fossil fuel projects."

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