The government of New Zealand has been labelled a “disgrace” after it released a new climate plan which barely requires it to reduce emissions between 2030 and 2035.

Under the previous Labour government of Jacinda Ardern, the country committed to cut net emissions by 50% by 2030, compared to gross 2005 levels.

The new climate plan, which is known as a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) towards global climate goals, was announced by the right-wing government of Christopher Luxon on Thursday. It says the country will reduce emissions by 51-55% by 2035 against the same 2005 baseline.

Climate campaigners in the Pacific nation immediately slammed the poor ambition. Alva Feldmeir, co-director of 350.org Aotearoa, said the government’s “relentless dismantling of climate policies, expansion of fossil fuel extraction, and now this pathetic NDC signal a catastrophic future”.

“How do we, as Pacific Islanders living in Aotearoa New Zealand, reconcile our government’s decisions with the survival of our island homes?” asked Pacific Climate Warriors Council Elder Inagaro Vakaafi.

Rosemary Harris, a campaigner at Oil Change International, said New Zealand was “retreating on ambition and shirking responsibility, raising their emission reductions by a pathetic 1%”.

Since coming to power in 2023, Luxon’s government has attempted to reverse its predecessor’s ban on offshore oil and gas exploration, despite advice from civil servants that doing so would breach the COP28 climate agreement reached in Dubai and could endanger trade deals. The plan doesn’t mention fossil fuels, nor the need to transition away from oil and gas.

In addition, the government has removed incentives for electric vehicles, promised to postpone putting a price on farming emissions and scrapped other climate programmes.

The new 51-55% target compares favourably with Canada’s 45-50% but is less than Brazil’s 59-67% and the 61-66% target set by Joe Biden’s administration before