Zoe De Lamanche helped to organise the School Strike for Climate Change in 2019. Photo / Supplied
Zoe De Lamanche helped to organise the School Strike for Climate Change in 2019. Photo / Supplied
As leaders from 195 countries gather in Glasgow to renew their commitments to fighting climate change, Zoe De Lamanche worries that not all nations have a seat at the table.
"A lot of Pacific Island representatives haven't been able to come due to Covid-19," the 20-year-old former Mount Maunganui Collegestudent told the Bay of Plenty Times.
"I just hope that doesn't mean they are being left out of important discussions."
De Lamanche said she was concerned lack of access could lead to a Eurocentric conference.
"I really hoped Pacific leaders would be able to attend indigenous-driven climate conversations.
COP26 is a climate conference that began in Glasgow, Scotland on October 31 where participating countries review their plans to cut global greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of this decade.
It comes after the historic Paris Agreement in 2015 which saw nations commit to keeping global warming below 2C, and preferably 1.5C, compared to pre-industrial levels.
New Zealand's commitment in 2015 was well below other nations, a pledge to lower its emissions by 30 per cent below 2005 levels, and 11 per cent below 1990 levels, before 2030.
A report dropped by New Zealand's Climate Change Commission in June said greenhouse gas levels in New Zealand effectively need to drop by around a third by 2035.
To get there, it has recommended aggressive measures like a halt on petrol car imports after 2032, slashing livestock numbers by 15 per cent by 2030, and planting 380,000 hectares of new exotic forestry.
India Logan-Riley indigenous climate activist from New Zealand speaks at COP26. Photo / AP
In the lead-up to COP26 the Government has proposed measures such asclean car discounts and banning new gas connections.
On a local level, De Lamanche hopes COP26 will lead to decision-making that balances the needs of New Zealand's communities.
"We need more guidance on just transitions, to be able to make changes quickly while balancing concerns from Māori and concerns from areas that depend on oil and gas exploration like rural towns."
De Lamanche said the most urgent need was for Māori voices to be heard.
"I think we're definitely heading in the right direction but there's not enough radical change."
De Lamanche said thinking about climate change "definitely stresses me out".
"Major weather events keep happening and I think it's going to get worse and worse and worse. I don't know what's going to happen next."
But De Lamanche said she finds hope in her peers.
"It's great to see young people getting actively involved in COP26. It is super important for that to happen because we are the people who will get the most affected by climate change in the future."
Whareroa Marae environment spokesman Joel Ngatuere. Photo / NZME
Whareroa Marae environment spokesman Joel Ngatuere said his impression of COP26 so far was "political positioning and grandstanding".
"The reality is it's going to amount to nothing if [Governments] don't come back and do something."
Ngatuere said climate change was "nothing new."
"The reason we are where we're at now is we've had politicians going to COP after COP and no one has delivered.
"The Government has signed up to this methane pledge but it means nothing if we do nothing."
Ngatuere wanted decisions to be made for the mokopuna and backed by science not by "the corporate dollar".
"Our closest relations in the Pacific are going to be flooded in the future. That is what they are facing. We should open our arms to them. We're their nearest neighbours.
"What is the financial impact if we don't take action and we have a flood of climate refugees coming into our country?"
Bay of Plenty Climate Change Network founder Gray Southon hopes COP26 will help countries plan to reduce fossil fuels. Photo / George Novak
Bay of Plenty Climate Change Network founder Gray Southon said climate change was a complex problem.
"Up until 2005, I was resisting it. I thought [climate action] was a few fashionable people pushing at boundaries," the physicist said.
Eventually, Southon said he could not ignore the evidence.
"It's been nearly 40 years that we've been told that our lifestyles are destroying the planet for our children."
Southon hoped COP26 would help countries like New Zealand to take definitive steps to reduce fossil fuel usage.
"In one way, it's simple in that we've got to get rid of fossil fuels. How many rooftops have got solar panels?"
Southon, who was waiting for his own solar panels to arrive, said he recognised reducing fossil fuel usage was going to come at a cost.
"Fossil fuels have allowed us to do incredible things and to live in comfort and privilege. But you can't ask for an immediate return on saving the future."
