Green MP Kennedy Graham says New Zealand’s decision not to sign up to the Kyoto Protocol again was an economic mistake and will void New Zealand’s influence over climate change for the next eight years.
After two weeks, United Nations climate-change talks in Doha wrapped up yesterday with an agreement to work towards a binding global treaty by 2015 to take over from the Kyoto Protocol in 2020 and include countries such as China, India and the United States.
In the meantime, 37 countries - including Australia and European nations - signed up to further binding commitments under the Kyoto Protocol through to 2020.
Despite lobbying from European countries, New Zealand stuck to its decision to opt out of Kyoto along with Canada, Russia and Japan. Instead, it will set a non-binding target through to 2020, expected to aim to cut emissions by 10 to 20 per cent.
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