Climate change – where to?
Human-induced climate change is impacting Earth’s global systems, including ice melt in Antarctica. What is the world doing to combat it?
The Paris Agreement, signed in 2016, is the current global plan to tackle it. Countries pledge different emissions reduction targets and then share their planning on how they’ll achieve them.
Where does New Zealand fit in? Are we doing our bit as a nation? Should we be bothering with individual actions, or is putting the onus on individuals simply a tactic by those who want to delay real change?
Introducing Climate change – where to?
In this short video, RNZ science communicator Dr Claire Concannon summarises some global actions for climate change. These are expanded on in the last podcast of her Voice of the Sea Ice series.
Select here to view the video transcript and copyright information.
A global agreement to combat climate change
In 2015, scientist Dr Daniel Price cycled from New Zealand to Paris to raise awareness of the climate crisis and the impacts it was already having – and will have in future – on people around the world.
Global actions for climate change – podcast
In this final episode of the Voice of the Sea Ice podcast series, RNZ science communicator Dr Claire Concannon and experts discuss what we’re doing to address human-induced climate change that is impacting Earth’s global systems, including ice melt in Antarctica.
Select here to view the video transcript and copyright information.
The trip was timed to coincide with an important global climate summit: the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. At that meeting, a famous international agreement was hashed out. Signed in 2016, it is known as the Paris Agreement.
Pole to Paris raising awareness of the climate crisis
Dr Daniel Price took action to raise awareness of the climate crisis and the impacts it was already having on the world. He took part in Pole to Paris by cycling from New Zealand to Paris. This image shows Daniel cycling in Indonesia with local supporters.
Under the Paris Agreement, the countries (known as parties) that signed up are supposed to work together to keep global warming within 2°C of pre-industrial temperature, ideally at 1.5°C.
This is because scientific evidence and modelling suggest that 2°C of warming will result in dramatic changes to Earth’s system that could pose large risks to human life. Ideally, the Paris Agreement says, we would keep things within 1.5°C – although in 2024, global temperatures breached that for the first time.
Each country puts forward a self-imposed target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – one that’s supposed to be ambitious. Developed countries are expected to do more, having built their wealth off the back of burning planet-heating fossil fuels.
There are rules to ensure transparency: parties must submit their plans and policies, and report on how they are doing. This is so that others can assess their efforts and apply peer pressure if some are not pulling their weight.
When submitting a target, each country can argue why this is the maximum that can be done right now. For example, in New Zealand, we have a long land mass made up of islands, we’re sparsely populated in some areas and we have poor public transport, so we still rely on fossil fuels for most of our transport energy needs.
Many developed countries, like New Zealand, have huge amounts of infrastructure built up around fossil fuels, so it does take time, effort and money to implement change.
Celebrating the adoption of the Paris Agreement
United Nations members celebrate the adoption of the Paris Agreement on 12 December 2015. The Paris Agreement is an international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 195 parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France. It entered into force on 4 November 2016.
However, other countries are faring better with their goals. China, which only committed to peak emissions by 2030, will likely achieve it much sooner than that, because renewable energy is growing at such a pace there.
The United Kingdom pledged to cut its emissions by 80% over a really short timeframe and has already stopped using coal in its electricity system – something that even New Zealand hasn’t achieved, despite starting from a much better place with sustainable electricity generation.
In 2016, 80–85% of electricity in New Zealand came from renewable sources, including hydroelectric power (57%) and geothermal energy (20%).
The Paris Agreement has somewhat helped to reduce emissions, but according to the Climate Action Tracker, the world is a long way off its goal of limiting warming to 2°C.
Momentum is building
Although it is happening at a slower pace than most scientists say is needed, there are signs of positive change.
Momentum is being driven by renewable energy solutions and a shift in global finances, including a move away from fossil fuels.
New Zealand is in a great position with a strong renewable energy economy already. It’s a small country, but a small country can show leadership ... and show how things can be done.
Part of the shift towards renewable energy alternatives has been powered by the global cost of solar panels and batteries falling faster than expected. In 2024, the European Union generated more electricity from solar than from coal.
New Zealand is getting in on the action too. In 2025, solar farms generated 2% of the country’s power, and Meridian Energy is predicting this will reach 7–8% by 2030. In 2024, the amount of electricity generated by renewable sources 85.5%.
Money driving change
Insurance companies are inadvertently creating pressure for climate action. They’re increasingly demanding that governments take steps to future-proof communities at risk from climate change or they’re not going to insure them. Examples of at-risk areas are coastal communities or those in locations prone to increased risk of flooding or wildfire.
Wildfire damage, Pacific Palisades 2025
In January 2025, multiple fires in Southern California destroyed more than 18,000 homes and structures and burned over 23,000 hectares of land in total. 200,000 people had to evacuate and 30 people lost their lives.
Some insurance companies are starting to refuse to insure homes in wildfire risk areas.
In the US, insurance companies are already declining applications for homes and businesses in increasingly fire-prone areas of the country. In New Zealand, some companies are refusing to insure certain homes in flood-prone and landslide-prone areas or they’re increasing costs to levels people find hard to pay. This all limits what individuals can do – for example, many banks will not lend you money for a home or business if you cannot insure it. This all has knock-on effects for national economies – something that makes most governments sit up and pay attention.
Research within New Zealand predicts that 10,000 properties will become uninsurable within the next 25 years.
Other economic drivers for change are trade agreements, money lending and tariffs:
Tariffs are taxes on imported goods. For example, the European Union has the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism tariff. If the goods from another country involve significant emissions or the EU feels the country isn’t pulling its weight to reduce emissions, the EU adds a tax, making the goods less attractive to consumers due to cost.
Some banks are withdrawing from fossil fuel industries that do not have plans for a green transition. In New Zealand, KiwiSaver providers that don’t invest in fossil fuel industries advertise this so people can invest in banks they know don’t support companies driving up emissions.
Several trade agreements between countries stipulate that each country must adhere to their Paris targets.
How is New Zealand doing?
New Zealand’s gross greenhouse gas emissions peaked in 2006, plateaued for a while and have now been in decline since 2019.
Aotearoa’s contributions to greenhouse gas emissions
Drew Bingham from the Ministry for the Environment discusses economic activity and its influence on greenhouse gas emissions.
Select here to view video transcript and copyright information.
Since 2021, New Zealand’s international Paris Agreement target is to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% of the 2005 levels by 2030.
In 2025, it is projected that we will miss this 2030 target by 84 million tonnes of emissions.
What can I do?
Many people concerned about the slow pace of global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases are asking what they can do.
There are many things each of us can do to help reduce emissions, and many of us are already actively making changes:
Adopting a predominantly plant-based diet.
Composting organic waste instead of sending it to the landfill, where it produces methane as it breaks down.
Reducing car use and looking to public transport or active modes of transport like cycling, scootering or walking.
Reducing our consumption of ‘stuff’. We do not need a lot of stuff we purchase, and it has a carbon footprint.
Recycling to reduce the production of fossil fuel-based plastics.
Individual actions are important – they all add up and they give us a sense of doing what we can.
However, the reality is that the most significant impacts will be gained when large emitters like certain industries and countries make a commitment and take genuine action to reduce their impacts on the climate.
For example, it would take about 1,500 years for those of us in the 99% of the population to emit as much carbon as the world’s richest billionaires do in a single year!
What can I do to stop climate change?
Climate change is a big problem, but each one of us can make a difference.
Select here to view video transcript and copyright information.
So if we want to limit global warming to under 2°C from pre-industrial levels, how do we convince powerful companies and governments (and billionaires) to reduce emissions and implement measures to adapt to climate change?
Here are some things we can do:
Write letters to Members of Parliament and local body politicians so they understand that the people who vote for them want action on climate change.
Use our purchasing power – we can choose not to spend our money or invest it in companies that aren’t working towards reducing their emissions.
We can learn how to better communicate the need for action on climate change by learning about how to reframe conversations to effect change. (See our Useful links below for some resources to help here.)
Have conversations with others – talk to whānau, neighbours and people in your community about the world you want and discuss how we might get there.
Join a group working to get traction on climate change action – or start your own group!
Related content
Voice of the Sea Ice is a six-part RNZ podcast series that delves into science research and adventure in Antarctica. Explore the other episodes:
A land of ice and ambition: Learn about different types of ice, crevasses and the work to map safe routes across Antarctica for scientists and their equipment.
The heartbeat of Antarctica: Meet and learn from some of the researchers studying the physics of the Antarctic annual sea ice cycle.
Antarctic life – microalgae: Introduces microalgae (zooplankton) that live on the bottom of the ice and among the platelet ice layer just below it.
Antarctic life – penguins, seals and fish: Scientists are investigating the Antarctic food web to better understand the interconnections.
Changing times in Antarctica: Scientists talk about what sea ice decline means for the world and how they feel about it.
Climate change is a complex topic. The Connected journal article Global action breaks key aspects down into accessible, bite-sized sections.
Science and society both have roles to play in slowing the effects of climate change. Discover different actions to combat global warming in Climate action.
Education is a critical agent in addressing urgent issues like climate change. Learn more in the PLD articles, Climate change – classroom competencies and Agency in the Anthropocene.
Climate change resources – planning pathways provides pedagogical advice and curriculum links to help with teaching and learning planning. It includes an interactive that groups Hubs resources according to key teaching topics.
The article Thin Ice in the classroom introduces the film Thin Ice – The Inside Story of Climate Science, which looks at our planet’s changing climate, and suggests a range of Science Learning Hub resources designed to support its use in the classroom.
The climate change collection is a curation of annotated resources to unpack the science of climate change and associated socio-scientific issues. Log in to make this collection part of your private collection – just click on the copy icon. You can then add additional content, notes and make other changes. Registering an account for the Science Learning Hubs is easy and free – sign up with your email address or Google account. Look for the Sign in button at the top of each page.
Drive it Down! is a case study that looks at how a students learned about greenhouse gas emissions and then took action to drive down their school gate emissions. It includes these student activities:
Useful links
In her work reporting on climate, RNZ Climate Correspondent Eloise Gibson often hears the refrain: “New Zealand is such a small part of the emissions picture, why would we bother?” In her March 2025 analysis about New Zealand’s international climate targets (also listen to The Detail), Eloise explains the value of ‘doing our bit’ and putting pressure on other countries.
Eloise has reported on our 2035 Paris Agreement target and delved into the uptake of solar demand in New Zealand.
The Climate Action Tracker website keeps tabs on the targets and pledges of different countries and monitors whether they are on track to keep the world below 2°C of warming (compared to pre-industrial temperatures).
The Workshop has several publications to help you talk about the climate crisis:
Read about the action Dr Daniel Price undertook to raise awareness of the climate crisis. His efforts are partially covered in a film on how Bangladesh is slowly drowning and what it will take to save it.
The Paris Agreement, signed by all but three countries in 2016, aims to keep global warming below 1.5°C. The World Meteorological Organization confirmed 2024 as the warmest year on record at about 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels. Read this article to understand why nations can still limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Read more about the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.
Read a media release by a US insurance company that has started to decline insurance applications in areas where the threat of wildfires has grown due to climate change.
This Stuff news article looks at the real-world impacts of natural hazards and severe weather events on Kiwi homes such as increasing insurance premiums.
Acknowledgement
This resource is adapted from the work of Dr Claire Concannon for the RNZ podcast series Voice of the Sea Ice. The series was made with travel support from the Antarctica New Zealand Community Engagement Programme.
