EU Lodges Landmark Trade Complaint Against New Zealand Over Climate Change Commitments

New Zealand is facing a landmark trade complaint from the European Union over its handling of climate change commitments in their free trade agreement. The Dutch environmental group Both ENDS has lodged the first complaint under the EU's Single Entry Point mechanism, which allows European civil society to ask the Commission to enforce sustainability commitments in EU trade agreements.

The complaint argues that New Zealand has failed to uphold its legal commitments in the EU-NZ FTA not to weaken environmental protections to encourage trade or investment. It claims that the country has taken a series of connected decisions since the deal came into force that weakened domestic climate safeguards, including removing agriculture from carbon pricing and reversing the offshore oil and gas exploration ban.

The group is seeking compliance rather than the suspension of trade benefits, which could have severe consequences for New Zealand's economy. The two-way trade between New Zealand and EU was worth around $21.5 billion last year, with the deal noting that by 2035, the value of New Zealand exports to the EU would increase by $1.8 billion a year.

The Trade Minister, Damien O'Connor, has fired back, saying that it's 'not for overseas countries, organisations or lobby groups to tell New Zealand how to meet its obligations'. He claims that New Zealand takes its international obligations seriously and is compliant with the EU free trade agreement.