New Zealand cools on climate refugee plan

WELLINGTON, Mar 16 (AFP): New Zealand says it will not adopt world-first plans to allow climate change refugees without approval from the Pacific island nations the measure is intended to help.

Both the ruling Labour Party and its Green coalition partner went into last year's election with a platform of allocating refugee places for islanders displaced by rising seas.

The initial plans were modest, about 100 places a year, but regarded as ground-breaking because the UN's refugee covenant does not currently recognise the victims of climate change.

Activists praised the South Pacific nation for showing global leadership on the issue and assisting vulnerable low-lying island nations in its region.

However, Climate Change Minister James Shaw said feedback from islanders themselves indicated they saw gaining refugee status as a last resort.

"They want to stay in their homes and their homelands," he told AFP this week, just days after returning from a tour of four Pacific island nations.