New Zealand has led international calls to phase-out fossil fuel subsidies.

Alongside nine other countries we've endorsed a statement that supports eliminating inefficient subsidies to fossil fuels.

That's since been backed by the United States and France.

John Key says lots of countries around the world subsidise fossil fuels.

"They're part of the problem when it comes to tackling climate change."

Key says we've got a price on emissions, but other countries need to get serious about climate change.

"Some countries are actually going the other way, they're actually subsidising those fossil fuels. Our argument is that if they're made to pay the real price that would have some impact on demand."

Meanwhile, although Labour is praising the Government for its global stance on fossil fuels, the party has advised we still has plenty to do on climate change here at home.

Labour's Climate Change spokesperson Megan Woods is hoping this is a sign National is beginning to take the need to reduce New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions seriously.

"The world does need to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, but back here in our own back yard we're not meeting our own emissions target reductions and we need to meet those."

Woods points to the work that needs to be done in our own backyard.

"I hope that it signals a change from the Government and a change in attitude that we have to take this seriously and that we have to act now. One of the things that we absolutely have to do is make sure that we're incentivising our forestry industry to actually plant some trees."

Megan Wood says the Government must also ensure the carbon price is lifted if we are to stop foresters leaving the Emission Trading Scheme in droves.