New Zealand Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade
Manatū Aorere
9 October 2023
195 Lambton Quay
Private Bag 18−901
Wellington 6160
New Zealand
Chris McCashin
T +64 4 439 8000
[FYI request #24003 email]
F +64 4 472 9596
OIA 28795
Tēnā koe Chris McCashin
I refer to your email of 31 August 2023 in which you request the following under the Official
Information Act 1982 (OIA):
Per a response previous completed by MFAT I request some additional information
around the projects funded by the Climate Change Fund. Some interesting reading -
anybody would think we weren't $73B dollars in debt the way we throw around
money. Are you able to provide a response to the following for each individual
project.
1- Total spend in excel format and who that was sent to and what it was for - eg -
Fiji government, NGO's, consultants, individuals, who and where the money has been
paid and what it was for - eg invoice comment - or is money paid in lump sum to
somebody and they administer it - please provide information
2- Project scope, deliverables, outcomes / reports (if any), completed construction
projects (if any)
3- Compliance with AML - alternatively are MFAT exempt from compliance of the AML
laws, or have there been Ministerial Exemptions for any of the projects
4- Can you also provide total funding for MFAT since 2010 per annum.
5- Can you also outline requirements for any of the funds NZ is contributing and
what NZ's obligations are notably the world bank, pacific community etc etc. Any
and all obligations that NZ has being part of these funds.
Please note these requests have been numbered for ease of reference.
On 28 September 2023, the timeframes for responding to your request were extended by an
additional 15 working days because responding to your request necessitated the review of a
large quantity of information, and due to the consultations necessary to make a decision on
your request. (section 15A(1)(a) and 15A(1)(b) of the OIA refers).
A response to each part of your request is set out below.
1- Total spend in excel format and who that was sent to and what it was for
- eg - Fiji government, NGO's, consultants, individuals, who and where the
money has been paid and what it was for - eg invoice comment - or is
money paid in lump sum to somebody and they administer it - please
provide information
e [MFAT request email]
w www.mfat.govt.nz
Page 2 of 4
Activities included in this response where they are tagged as Significant or Principal to Climate
Change Mitigation or Adaptation. These activities are counted towards the $1.3 billion funding
announced by the Government in October 2021 for climate finance over 2022–25 — four times
the size of its previous commitment ($300 million, 2019–22). This includes a commitment to
invest at least 50% in adaptation activities, and at least 50% within the Pacific. Of this funding,
$800 million is new and additional finance, and $500 million is mainstreamed across the existing
International Development Cooperation programme.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the Ministry) uses a weighted expenditure method to
calculate how much spending on an activity is counted towards climate funding:
• If an activity is tagged as 'Principal" to Climate Change Adaptation or Mitigation then
100% of expenditure is counted.
• Activities tagged 'Significant' to only Climate Change Adaptation or Mitigation are
counted as 30% of expenditure.
• Activities tagged 'Significant' to Climate Change Adaptation or Mitigation, as well as
'Principal' to Disaster Risk Reduction, are counted as 50% of expenditure.
Information relevant to this part of your request is attached. We have withheld some
information under the following sections of the OIA:
•
9(2)(a): to protect individuals’ privacy;
•
9(2)(b)(ii): to avoid prejudice to the commercial position of another party; and
•
9(2)(f)(iv): to protect the confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers of the Crown
and officials.
Where the information has been withheld under section 9 of the OIA, we have identified no
public interest in releasing the information that would override the reasons for withholding it.
Regarding your request for information relating to ‘
who and where the money has been paid and
what it was for - eg invoice comment - or is money paid in lump sum to somebody and they
administer it’. Due to the way that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the Ministry) stores
information, accessing individual invoices for all activities would require subtantial manual
collation and review. Therefore, this part of your request is refused under section 18(f) of the
OIA.
2- Project scope, deliverables, outcomes / reports (if any), completed
construction projects (if any)
The part of your request for
‘project scope’ is refused under section 18(d) of the OIA as the
information is publicly available. This information can be found in the ‘activity description’ field
of the table provided as part of a response to another OIA request, which is published on the
Ministry’s website:
www.mfat.govt.nz/assets/OIA/OIA-2023/OIA-28736-Climate-Change-Fund-29-August-2023.pdf
The remainder of information related to this part of your request is refused under section 18(f)
of the OIA because it would require substantial collation or research to provide a response. This
is because of the way information is stored in the Ministry’s database. Accessing individual
deliverables, outcomes / reports and completed construction projects for all activities would
require subtantial manual collation and review.
Page 3 of 4
3- Compliance with AML - alternatively are MFAT exempt from compliance of
the AML laws, or have there been Ministerial Exemptions for any of the
projects
Clause 23 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (Definitions)
Regulations 2011 states that “
Every public service agency as defined in section 5 of the Public
Service Act 2020 is declared not to be a reporting entity for the purposes of the Act.” Therefore,
the Ministry is not a Reporting Entity for the purposes of this act and is not subject to the
compliance requirements under the legislation and would not apply for Ministerial Exemptions.
4- Can you also provide total funding for MFAT since 2010 per annum.
Information relevant to this part of your request is proactively released by the Treasury as part
of the annual Budget process. Therefore, this part of your request is refused under section 18(d)
of the OIA. Information specific to the Ministry can be found on the Treasury website via the
following links:
- 2021-2023 MFAT funding:
www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/budgets/vote-information?vote=6428&year=All
- Prior to the 2020 MFATs funding was split between Vote Foreign Affairs and Trade and Vote
Official Development Assistance:
www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/budgets/vote-information?vote=1637&year=All
www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/budgets/vote-information?vote=1658&year=All
5- Can you also outline requirements for any of the funds NZ is contributing
and what NZ's obligations are notably the world bank, pacific community etc
etc. Any and all obligations that NZ has being part of these funds.
The Ministry is required to be assured that contributions will be used for activities as agreed with
the recipient, and will not be used to support terrorism (including through money laundering).
The Ministry is also required to ensure funds and organisations to which it contributes have
appropriate policies in place for preventing and addressing sexual exploitation, abuse and
harassment and for child protection, and for managing risks in respect of health and safety and
well-being.
The Ministry expects to receive regular reporting that will provide assurance that these
obligations are being met. Subject to these requirements, in making arrangement to contribute to
funds or organisations the Ministry becomes obligated to pay the agreed amounts as scheduled.
More detail on this in respect of the World Bank and the Pacific Community is provided below. You
may also wish to refer to the Ministry’s website via the following link:
www.mfat.govt.nz/en/aid-
and-development/our-approach-to-aid/
New Zealand funding for
World Bank operations (current obligations) comprises:
(i)
A contribution of NZ$54.56 million to the 20th replenishment of the
International Development Association (IDA 20), which delivers grant finance,
low cost loans and technical assistance to the world’s poorest and most
vulnerable countries for development, climate action and crisis response. IDA
20 is implemented by the World Bank over a three year period from 2022/23 to
2024/25. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is making the contribution in
Page 4 of 4
three annual instalments, of which NZ$18.18 million remains to be paid in
2024/25.
(ii)
A contribution of NZ$24 million through two instalments to support the Pacific
through World Bank delivery of technical assistance, analytical and advisory
services and project implementation capacity from 2022/23 to 2024/25 via the
PNG and Pacific Islands Umbrella Trust Fund, all of which has been paid.
(iii)
Contributions to the World Bank’s Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative, which
cancels the debt as of 2003 of the poorest, most indebted countries to
multilateral development banks. New Zealand is committed to pay an
estimated NZ$23.94 million between 2024 and 2033, and has made a
provisional commitment of a further estimated NZ$7.47 million, to be paid
from 2034 to 2044. To date, New Zealand has paid NZ$29.5 million to the
Initiative since 2007.
Other than the specified upcoming payments New Zealand has no further obligations in respect of
these arrangements. The payment of instalments by the Ministry is subject to satisfactory
reporting by the Bank.
There are multi-layered accountability and monitoring measures for New Zealand’s investments in
the
Pacific Community (SPC’s) climate change work, including regular SPC reporting on
progress and results, MFAT monitoring visits, and ongoing assessment through New Zealand’s
attendance at SPC member governance meetings.
Please note that it is our policy to proactively release our responses to official information
requests where possible. Therefore, our response to your request (with your personal information
removed) may be published on the Ministry website:
www.mfat.govt.nz/en/about-us/contact-
us/official-information-act-responses/
If you have any questions about this decision, you can contact us by email at:
[email address]. You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the
Ombudsman of this decision by contacting
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone
0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Sarah Corbett
for Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade
