French Pass, Marlborough, New Zealand. Thomas / Flickr / Public Domain
Incredible news in
New Zealand, as it has banned new permits for offshore oil and gas exploration in efforts to tackle climate change.
The Crown Minerals (Petroleum) Amendment Act passed its third reading in Parliament on Wednesday with 63 votes in favor and 55 against, New Zealand Herald reported.
New Zealand will no longer offer new permits for offshore oil and gas exploration, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Thursday.
"The whole world is going in this direction," Ardern said. "We all signed up to the
Paris agreement that said we're moving towards carbon-neutrality, and now we need to act on it."
New Zealand's next prime minister Jacinda Ardern has set ambitious environmental policies to confront a warming planet.
"I do anticipate that we will be a government, as I said during the campaign, that will be absolutely focused on the challenge of climate change," said Ardern, whose Labour party has signed a coalition agreement with the New Zealand First party.
