John Key poised to hand out more oil drilling permits in wake of Paris climate talks

December 9, 2015: In a “breathtaking display of hypocrisy”, John Key is preparing to dish out new oil exploration permits just days after returning from the Paris climate change conference.

Greenpeace Executive Director, Dr Russel Norman, says he expects the Government will announce the latest round of these oil ‘block offers’ before the end of the year.

“In Parliament you can’t call someone a hypocrite, but what other word makes any sense of a Prime Minister who stands on the world stage and says he cares about climate change and then comes home and approves plans to find and burn huge stores of underground carbon? That is breathtaking hypocrisy,” he says.

“John Key’s job should be to present a tangible plan to help combat climate change and protect our children’s future, but instead he’s doling out permits to look for the very oil that we can’t burn without irreversibly wrecking the climate.”

Traditionally, the block offers are almost always declared during the last sitting week of Parliament before Christmas, which is this week.

Based on previous announcements, it’s likely that hundreds of thousands more square kilometres of New Zealand water will be handed to foreign petroleum giants for oil exploration.

Norman says it would be a disaster for New Zealand and its reputation.

“There is one thing John Key can do to have some credibility on climate change: Cancel the oil exploration agenda immediately,” he says.

Since August, dozens of communities around the country have joined together to pressure their local councils to “block the offer” and say “no” to oil exploration.

Christchurch, Dunedin and Kaikoura City Councils listened to their constituents and voted in favour of telling Central Government that oil surveying is not welcome in their waters. Auckland Council was evenly split with Len Brown’s vote in favour of oil drilling breaking the deadlock.

At the Paris climate conference, the New Zealand Government was criticised for its inadequate offer to reduce its contribution to global climate change. It even picked up the very first ‘Fossil of the Day Award’, a booby prize given out by global NGO coalition, Climate Action Network.

At the talks, Pacific Island nations have been forced to form an alliance with the EU, and against New Zealand and the block of countries trying to prevent a binding and ambitious agreement.

And just last night, the world’s annual Climate Change Performance Index was released, revealing that of the 58 countries ranked for climate change performance, New Zealand came in 42nd - a significant drop from 35th last year.

ENDS

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