Climate Liberation Aotearoa calls on Simon Watts to resign from his post as climate commissioner and failing that calls upon Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to show some leadership and strip Simon Watts of his post.

Climate Minister Simon Watts has made a statement at a forum of federated farmers that New Zealand is under no obligation to meet its climate targets as formed in the Paris Agreements and that a practical approach will mean these targets are not reached, stating:

“Some will meet them, and some won’t just because [of] national circumstance. You have to have the intent to meet it and if you don’t meet it, no one sends you an invoice – and that’s why it’s not a liability on the government’s books [1].”

The Paris agreement is a legally binding international declaration of response to the impact of climate change. Its purpose is to limit the impact of global warming to 1.5°C. This threshold is the result of research by the 2018 IPCC [2] that reveals limiting warming to this number is crucial for the possibility of adaptation of ecosystems, reduction of extreme weather events and protection of life-ensuring natural resources.

“A disregard for these targets is a disregard for human life and the health of our planet,” said spokesperson Rosemary Penwarden. “We know that the human cost of climate change is proportional to the amount of CO2 emitted. Having a casual attitude about these numbers is hugely inappropriate and terrifying to the public who feel unable to do anything to prevent it.”

The government should be held to account for their climate change response.

“While I would like to believe our government will show some accountability over this error, I find it very unlikely. This statement is symptomatic of a larger problem. The government has been constantly stripping back progressive climate policy.”

The effects of this can already be seen. Global temperatures last year averaged for the first time at 1.5°C higher than industrial levels [3]. We are seeing the impact of this in terms of increasing droughts and wildfires. In LA early this year we saw mass devastation as countless properties were lost in the violent blaze [4], in areas of South America fires have caused mass displacement and devastation [5], and New Zealand is currently seeing huge areas of native bush destroyed in Waipoua, threatening the culturally significant Tāne Mahuta [6].

“It is entirely unsurprising that these comments were made to a group of farmers. The farming lobby has a huge disproportionate sway on New Zealand’s parliamentary policy. The way we farm is simply unsustainable given the reality of the climate crisis we are facing. It is impossible to keep pretending.”

In 2020, agriculture in New Zealand contributed 50% of the country’s gross emissions producing 39.4 million tonnes of CO2e greenhouse gases [7]. There has been no significant downwards trend in these emissions. Following the mortality cost of carbon [8], the agriculture emissions from 2020 alone will result in 9,850 climate change caused deaths before 2100.

“The government’s continued support for anti-climate policies further entrenches this kind of environmental destruction. It is a criminal coalition between policymakers and industry that locks out the public and sets us up to a fate unimaginably bad.”

This coincides with a clamp down on voices trying to hold our institutions to account. In the UK more than 20 peaceful protestors are currently behind bars for taking civil resistance against their government’s climate policy [9]. New restrictive measures are being felt in New Zealand too with the introduction of the Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Bill [10] and IPCA’s recent call to the government for the introduction of the need for permits to hold peaceful protests [11].

“Our government seems to have one rule for ordinary people and entirely another for its friends in the agriculture and energy industry. It’s time to ask the question: Who are the real criminals?”

Notes:

[1] https://www.farmersweekly.co.nz/politics/minister-denies-hefty-bill-for-missing-ghg-targets/

[2] https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/

[3] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd7575x8yq5o

[4] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/28/climate-triple-whammy-boosted-risk-of-la-fires-study-shows

[5] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/feb/26/forests-flames-argentina-wildfires-patagonia-

[6] https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/543073/remaining-residents-evacuated-as-massive-waipoua-forest-fire-rages-in-northland

[7] https://www.nzagrc.org.nz/assets/RP-Seminar-Workbook\_July-2022.pdf

[8] https://www.carbonindependent.org/144.html

[9] https://juststopoil.org/

[10] https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/533983/bill-to-stop-foreign-interference-undermining-core-new-zealand-interests-introduced-to-parliament

[11] https://www.ipca.govt.nz/Site/publications-and-media/2025-media-releases/2025-feb-18-public-protest-policing-review.aspx

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