NEW ZEALAND: Aviation and oil industries targeted by climate activism

In December, Extinction Rebellion protesters in the city of Christchurch objected to plans to develop a new airport, lying on the floor and playing dead at a council meeting that was discussing the plans. The council’s timing could not have been worse, with the meeting coming just a day after New Zealand’s new government declared a climate emergency and pledged to make its public sector carbon neutral by 2025. Earlier, in March, Extinction Rebellion protesters protested against fossil fuel extraction when they scaled an oil rig that was exploring for oil and gas as it passed through Cook Strait, which separates the main islands of New Zealand. New Zealand’s climate activists will now be pressuring the government to stick to its commitments.