New Zealand has declared a climate emergency and has pledged to have a carbon-neutral government by 2025. This is Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern: “It’s a declaration that now serves as a directive to all aspects of the public service around the urgency that we as a government require and the urgency that we require around action. It acts as a catalyst for change.”

Thirty-two other nations have previously declared a climate emergency, often as a symbolic act to spur top-down action on the climate crisis.