Prime Minister John Key says he plans to raise the topic of climate change when he eventually meets President-elect Donald Trump, who has claimed global warming to be a hoax.
Key says during his conversation with Mr Trump on Wednesday morning he talked about having a discussion about "a range of issues" and one of those was climate change.
"We'll certainly be raising the issue of climate change with the president elect and when he becomes president of the United States."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and French President Francois Hollande have just issued a warning for Trump to drop his campaign pledge to cancel the global 2015 Paris Agreement.
During Question Time today, Green Party co-leader James Shaw asked Mr Key if he was committed to cutting New Zealand's domestic greenhouse gas emissions despite Trump's intention to pull out of the Paris Agreement and invest in coal.
Mr Key replied the Government has no intention of altering its commitment to the Paris Agreement, but was happy not taking a strong leadership position.
"The Government has always said it wants to be a fast follower, not a leader," Mr Key says.
Mr Shaw asked if he'd consider changing that stance in the wake of calls from the recent UN climate change meeting in Morocco for better leadership on the issue.
Mr Key says New Zealand is better positioned to be a leader elsewhere.
"I don't think there's a need for New Zealand to change what its doing, in areas where we can be a leader which has always been agricultural emissions and the scientific work, we really are doing good work there."
Ban Ki Moon says as a businessman, Mr Trump would understand that market forces were driving the world economy towards cleaner energies such as wind and solar power.
Newshub.
