New Zealand has been accused of breaking climate commitments in its free trade agreement with the European Union in a formal complaint lodged with the European Commission by a Dutch environmental group.
The complaint, made Tuesday in Europe, alleges New Zealand has broken two promises under the trade agreement: not to weaken or set aside environmental laws in order to encourage trade or investment, and to effectively implement the Paris Agreement.
It comes less than six weeks before New Zealand’s election, as climate policy becomes an increasingly prominent dividing line. A poll Tuesday showed the Green Party surging to a record 16 percent, while the center-right governing National Party is struggling for support.
The complaint, lodged by Utrecht-based Both ENDS, is the first on environmental and climate grounds under the European Commission’s Single Entry Point, which deals with trade complaints about market access and sustainability issues, according to the group.
It alleges that since the trade agreement came into force in May 2024, the New Zealand government has made a series of decisions that breach its commitments, including having no plan to reach its carbon dioxide reduction targets, lowering its methane target and removing agricultural emissions from carbon pricing.
“This is the first EU trade agreement where breaking a climate promise can carry a price,” Fernando Hernandez, the group’s head of trade and investment policy, said in a statement. “We are asking Brussels to show that the price is real, for New Zealand and for every government that signs these commitments.”
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New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Wednesday the nation honors its agreements.
“We’re fantastic free traders. We take those agreements very seriously, and we make sure we meet our obligations on that,” he told reporters. “New Zealand’s fully compliant with our international obligations and our trading obligations.”
Greenpeace Aotearoa and a number of other New Zealand environmental and Maori organizations support Both ENDS’ action.
New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay told Radio New Zealand Wednesday that it was “deeply disappointing” to see New Zealand organizations joining with “foreign actors to attack New Zealand”.
“This harms our exporters and the jobs they provide.”
The Commission will examine the complaint against its published criteria and respond to Both ENDS. If the Commission takes the case up, it can raise the matter with the New Zealand government and then hold formal consultations between the two sides, the group said. If that does not resolve it, an independent panel of experts examines the case and publishes its findings.
“Trade benefits could be suspended only as a last resort: if an independent panel found that New Zealand had broken its commitment to the Paris Agreement, and New Zealand then failed to put that right,” the group said.
