Climate activist Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn says it's our human right to demand a good life with a protected environment. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Climate change will transcend down to every part of our being, including the most fundamental part of our lives: our human rights.
A Tai Tokerau wahine who has dedicated her life to fighting the good fight for human and climate rights, Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn believes everyone has a voice and should speak up in the face of injustice.
Murupaenga-Ikenn (Ngāti Kuri, Te Rarawa) was recently appointed senior indigenous and minorities fellow for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in its regional office of the Pacific.
The former NorthTec tutor and trustee of Climate Change Taitokerau Northland Trust is an activist for climate and social justice and calls herself an environmental rights defender.
"I wish society valued defenders more. If it wasn't for defenders we wouldn't have all the human rights we enjoy today."
She believes it's our duty as citizens to stand up when the government is not being accountable – outside of our triennial right to vote.
The connection between human rights and climate change traces back to the right to an adequate standard of living, which is part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was accepted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948.
In July, the United Nations Human Rights Council "recognised that the rights of people in vulnerable situations were disproportionately affected by the negative impact of climate change".
Additionally in New Zealand, Te Tiriti o Waitangi lays the foundation of the right "to protect what we value as taonga", Murupaenga-Ikenn explained.
"The universal principle of living a dignified life in our environment relates to us having a stable climate."
Murupaenga-Ikenn says governments, including here Aotearoa, are not holding up their end of the bargain.
"Our governments definitely have obligations of good governance – that's their duty."
However, the influence of corporations – which are not democratically elected – over policymakers was too strong.
"On the foundation of Te Tiriti, we should be environmental protection first and human rights second. We should be protecting the mechanisms of democracy and we should be making clear that corporate privileges are not human rights. They are subservient privileges to human rights."
Murupaenga-Ikenn named the "sheltering of the agricultural sector from their emissions obligations" as one example of corporate influence and called it a "free pass".
"It's socialism for capitalists."
But the issue is rooted in the way we govern.
The Westminster parliamentary system is constructed in a way that forces parties to act against the will of the people:
"Political parties are goaded to embrace their oppositional persona which is a real barrier for collaborating."
Systemic injustice is also hindering our capacity as a nation to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis, Murupaenga-Ikenn believes.
"When you have people in poverty, people struggling and people stressed, they have no mental capacity to join action against climate."
Murupaenga-Ikenn said poor communities would be displaced and what happens to them in the future would depend on how much noise they make now.
Hone Harawira and the Tai Tokerau Border Control was an example of a community standing up for themselves.
But action has to not only come from individuals, but their entirety of the system.
Murupaenga-Ikenn says waiting until 2050 was "bollocks", we needed to act now.
"Government needs to get priorities right and make every decision through that keyhole lens of climate crisis."
A global idea born out of the feeling that governments are failing to protect the world from climate change calls for a citizens' assembly.
A citizens' assembly would be a random selection of people who come together as a committee to investigate political issues and present recommendations to the government.
Murupaenga-Ikenn said having a random selection of people was necessary because there was too much money in decision-making.
Global activism group Extinction Rebellion, which Murupaenga-Ikenn is also part of, likens citizens' assemblies to juries in a court.
"It will empower citizens to actually work together and take responsibility for our climate and ecological emergency."
Local government bodies, including in Ireland, Canada and Australia, have already established citizens' assemblies.
Murupaenga-Ikenn sees the citizens' assembly as one part of a systemic overhaul that could empower people and human rights as well as protect the environment .
"Ordinary people – you don't have to be anyone special – can raise their voice about their concerns about what's going on with our environment and the lack of the state's action."
Making the school curriculum fit for purpose because it is "deficient in terms of empowering people which goes back to holding decision-makers to account" is another step towards climate justice.
"Children need to know how they can protect their human rights."
A strong democracy required activism. The stigmatisation of activists is "totally wrong" because it isn't the activists who cause inconvenience but those in power.
Murupaenga-Ikenn said the School Strike 4 Climate, which saw over 100,000 students taking to the streets in 2019, was an outlier and not yet mainstream.
She says five years of "awesome curriculum" could give us a better Aotearoa.
"We've tried the other way and look where we are. It can't get any worse."
Murupaenga-Ikenn has to be forced to take a break – action gives her a sense of agency which gives her hope.
She believes the fight is long from over. But there is hope for happiness and joy for everyone.
"I hope against hope that our governments will wake up one day and do the right thing. I hope I will see people feel empowered and then make their demands. But what privileged life do I have to see all of the benefits I hoped for when I began this journey?"
Pathways to climate justice
• Creating independent citizens' assemblies that act as a conduit for governments
• Giving youth a right to vote and educating them about civil rights
• Equitable distribution wealth coupled with redefining what "wealth" and "success" are in social, cultural and economic terms
• Drastically change consumerism by reducing consumption and eliminating luxurious lifestyles
• Recognising that technology has limited value in "saving" humanity from climate change (i.e. carbon capture technology)
The series
Friday: How to encourage climate action
Monday: Niwa scientists predict Northland's climate
Tuesday: How can we help?
Wednesday: What are our councils doing?
Thursday: How we can fight for climate justice
Yesterday: How to take industry into a sustainable future
Today: Regenerative farming and growing techniques
Monday: The future generation