By supporting developing countries to reduce emissions through offshore mitigation, New Zealand hopes to boost its global climate contribution beyond the domestic. This paper looks at the country's failure so far to deliver on offshore mitigation targets set in the Paris Agreement, outlining the context, challenges, and enablers to boost international cooperation.

This paper argues that effective offshore mitigation is essential to meeting the global gap on emissions reduction targets and suggests how the Government can overcome the most pressing barriers.

Offshore mitigation 
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, Aotearoa New Zealand deliberately pledged to deliver a greater contribution than what was feasible domestically, with the difference to be met by supporting other countries to reduce their emissions, known as offshore mitigation. But by mid-2024, New Zealand had not yet advanced mitigation agreements with other countries. The authors argue this is due to four competing and prevalent mindsets that act as barriers to progress on offshore mitigation. 

Barriers to progress

1. Slow progress with domestic mitigation.
2. A focus on the immediate, up-front costs and not the long-term benefits.
3. A fear of repeating past experience, in particular the questionable climate and sustainable development benefits of offshore mitigation (alongside domestic inaction) that took place under the Kyoto Protocol.
4. Siloed thinking about international cooperation.

The authors propose a 'Climate Cooperation' mindset as an antidote to these barriers, observing that if done well, funding offshore mitigation through 2030 and beyond could accelerate sustainable development, build international relationships and create new market opportunities. The authors propose steps so that decision-makers and the public understand, value, and support the national and global benefits of climate cooperation.