Climate Change Minister James Shaw says the pace of progress on climate action remains "really slow and really frustrating" but that new cash for devastation faced by Pacific nations would "signal" a strong position on the issue from New Zealand.
On Wednesday, the Government announced that it would give Pacific countries $20 million to address the devastation that's being brought to island nations due to climate change. Shaw said the money wouldn't go far enough but that it was a start.
"It'll obviously make a difference for those places that are the recipient of that money," he said.
"For us, this is really about signalling - given that we're only the third country in the world to actually put money towards the loss and damage category.
"It's really about signalling to other wealthier countries like us in the OECD to say: 'Look, we all did pretty well out of the Industrial Revolution. There are some countries that are really feeling the effects of that right now - we have a duty to support them.'"
The term "loss and damage" is used to refer to the destructive effects of global heating on human societies and the natural environment.
At COP27, the issue has been included in the conference's official agenda - a victory for smaller countries who have been calling for the issue to be discussed for years.
James Shaw said climate change is the number one concern raised to him by Pacific leaders.
Countries vulnerable to climate impacts have argued that comparatively wealthier nations should be responsible for mitigating the damage caused by their historical emissions.
The US and nations in the EU have blocked initiatives to discuss the issue for years - having feared enormous bills for emissions stretching back centuries.
In the past year, Scotland, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, and Austria are other nations that have broken the "taboo" on promising loss and damage money.
Shaw said he wouldn't be "naming names" when asked to explain which countries were resistant to loss and damage compensation.
"This issue that we've had around, kind of, allocating responsibility and blame has been one of the reasons why these things have been stuck," he said.
"We're trying to move beyond that and say, actually, let's just crack on with it."
The Climate Change Minister’s in Egypt for the business end of the negotiations.
He said New Zealand's Government was taking a stance against slow progress on the issue.
"What's likely to happen at this conference is that there will be an agreement to work out, sort of, a framework or terms of reference - and there's currently an argument going on about whether a fund should be established before those terms of reference are completely ironed out," the Climate Change Minister said.
"The globe's approach to this has taken many, many years - and these countries can't afford to wait for us to just talk some more."
Meanwhile, Shaw said Russia's invasion of Ukraine had "definitively" created a greater "sense of gloom" for conference-goers in Egypt.
1News’ Logan Church explains it’s feared the talks could end in deadlock
"There are conferences where you feel like you're making progress and then others where you feel you don't... There's definitely a sense of gloom about this one - particularly because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the associated energy crisis."
However, the Climate Change Minister said negotiators were "working around" it rather than letting it become "another roadblock."
When asked, he continued to bemoan "slow" progress on climate action but was optimistic that New Zealand was in the process of reducing emissions.
"Progress is really slow, and it is really frustrating, but I think the period of time that we are in right now is where we decouple our growth and our emissions," Shaw said.
"That means - over the coming years - you'll see things continue to truck on in the economy, as they do, but our emissions decline at the same time. That is a track that very, very few countries around the world have managed to achieve."
SHARE ME