New Zealand Leader Stands By Climate Stance Amid UN Calls for Urgent Action

Winston Peters has maintained his scepticism of the climate change consensus at the Pacific Island Forum also attended by the UN secretary-general.

New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters (top C), Cook Islands' Prime Minister Mark Brown (lower L), Samoa's Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa (lower C) and Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape (lower R) attend the Pacific Islands Forum in Nuku'alofa on August 26, 2024. Photo by Mary Lyn FONUA / AFP

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters—in Tonga for the Pacific Islands Forum—has maintained his contrasting position on climate change to visiting U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.

Guterres opened the event on Aug. 26 warning that countries still looking for oil and gas deposits, such as Australia and New Zealand, were “signing away our future.”