-
Watch Video
-
Related
He once said there was a 5% chance he would go to a meeting of world leaders striving to save the planet, now John Key has warmed to the idea.
The Prime Minister says it would have sent the wrong signal by staying away from climate change talks starting next week in Denmark.
Key was making light of his backdown as he became the first international traveller to officially use Auckland Airport's new electronic check-in, on Thursday.
"I can't think of a better day to be launching how easy it can be to go through customs than on the day I've announced I'm off again, to Copenhagen this time," says Key.
The Prime Minister's position on fronting up at the United Nations climate change conference has been melting faster than the west Antarctic ice shelf.
He was asked last month if it's a bad look that he's not going to the Copenhagen talks.
"No, I don't think so. Most leaders aren't going," he
replied.
"I still think it's likely that I won't be," he said at the
time.
So why the thaw?
"I wouldn't have wanted to give the wrong impression by my absence that somehow New Zealand wasn't committed to the fight against climate change because we absolutely are," he says.
Labour leader Phil Goff has another idea why Key didn't plan to go.
"Perhaps he felt a little embarrassed too that our emissions trading scheme is so weak that people would challenge him about that," says Goff.
It is a victory for campaigners who tried and failed to hand Key a cheque to cover his ticket to the summit.
"I would like to think our Prime Minister is not only listening to the leaders of other nations in terms of his decision to go to Copenhagen but that he's listening to his people," says Lucy Lawless, climate change campaigner.
Lawless says 180,000 Kiwis have signed a petition supporting much tougher targets. She and others are watching for more concessions.
"Making the decision to go is the easy part," says Simon Boxer of Greenpeace New Zealand.
"And now the hard work begins. The leaders need to show how we're going to reduce our emissions from the developed world by 40% by 2020."
Scientists argue it will take that sort of reduction to avoid the rapid loss of ice we are seeing at tourist attractions like the Tasman Glacier.
But few think an agreement is certain by the time Key leaves Copenhagen after his two- day visit for the final leader's summit.
"The current model isn't right," says Don Nicolson of Federated Farmers.
"It disadvantages New Zealand food producers and land owners and it will disadvantage the New Zealand economy."
Until then, he would rather see Lawless drop her cheque into a new fund researching ways of reducing agricultural emissions. Those account for nearly half the greenhouse gases we pump into the atmosphere.
