New Zealand is taking flak over a recent decision not to sign up for a second commitment period to curb its greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. In an announcement Friday, its government said it would be opting instead for a non-binding pledge starting January 1, 2013.
But New Zealand Climate Change minister Tim Groser stressed that they are not withdrawing from their existing Kyoto commitments and that in fact, there will be no changes in its domestic policy that had been modelled on the Kyoto Protocol’s rules. Groser explained that the new tack for the second commitment was to align it with a large majority of economies under the United Nations Framework Agreement on Climate Change.
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