Hundreds take to streets for climate

The impact of climate change galvanised a large crowd to take part in the Tauranga People's Climate March.

More than 350 people answered the call from Tauranga Carbon Reduction Group member Margie Mollison, who organised Saturday's march.

Carrying colourful banners, some which read - "Fight Global Warming", "Planet before Profit" "There's no Planet B", the marchers made their way from the corner of Fourth Ave, down Devonport Rd to Edgewater Fan on The Strand.

Among them were mums and dads and children carrying signs including 7-year-old Nilika Sharma whose sign said: "Together we can be the change".

Loud chants rang out, including, "Earth is worth fighting for, act now it's not too late", led by Tauranga father-of-four and Ngati Ranginui iwi member Graham Cameron.

Tauranga Samba Group drummers helped to draw extra attention to the march. Mr Cameron said: "Let's not get distracted by flags, world cups, knighthoods, and many other distractions. Climate change needs to be on everyone's lips, and our local and national leaders need to be left in no doubt that we expect urgent action to reduce our carbon emissions."

Other speakers included Papamoa College head girl Victoria Rhodes-Carlin and Tauranga City Council sustainability advisor Michelle Elborn. Ms Rhodes-Carlin said: The failure to act right now had serious consequences for us all.

"Why can't Tauranga become the most sustainable city in the country? We need to act now, not just for ourselves, our neighbours, our families, but also for future generations."

Gareth Morgan also attended. Mr Morgan said: "It's a very important issue. I'm concerned that when it comes (to) carbon emissions our political leaders have been poles apart for years. "The Government took submissions on what they should offer [in Paris] in terms of reducing carbon emissions with the average response coming out at 40 per cent reduction. So why is our Government offering an 11 per cent reduction? That's a substantial gap," he said.

Dr Mollison said she was heartened with the outcome and the atmosphere was positive.

"What we wanted to do was basically encourage people to think about it. Think about it as an individual, then as a city, and as a country. It's very easy to become distracted but we need to really think about this issue," she said.

Tens of thousands of people took part in similar marches around the world as leaders gather in Paris to finalise climate change agreements.

The 350-strong crowd taking part in the Tauranga People's Climate March heads down Devonport Rd. Photo / George Novak

Climate Change Conference:

* The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties and the eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol will take place from November 30 to December 11, in Paris, France.

Source - unfccc.int