Papua New Guinea’s Climate Leadership Praised While Overlooking Fossil Fuel Expansion

When U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres traveled to Papua New Guinea (PNG), he lauded the island nation for its bold climate action and framed it as a global leader in environmental responsibility. The visit and praise come amid mounting international pressure on countries to tackle climate change with sincerity, especially as PNG prepares to mark half a century of independence from Australia. But beneath this veneer of commendation lies a critical contradiction. While Guterres praised PNG for being a carbon sink—absorbing more CO2 than it emits—he conspicuously failed to mention the country’s growing liquid natural gas (LNG) exports, which have expanded...