Recent health and wellbeing research by Te Weu Charitable Trust found elderly and disabled people are often forgotten during extreme weather events like Cyclone Gabrielle. The local research team for the wellbeing study were, from left, Haley Maxwell, Dayna Chaffey, Hiria Philip-Barbara, Ralph Walker (project kaumatua), Josie McClutchie (project manager) and Professor Holly Thorpe (academic lead).
Recent health and wellbeing research by Te Weu Charitable Trust found elderly and disabled people are often forgotten during extreme weather events like Cyclone Gabrielle. The local research team for the wellbeing study were, from left, Haley Maxwell, Dayna Chaffey, Hiria Philip-Barbara, Ralph Walker (project kaumatua), Josie McClutchie (project manager) and Professor Holly Thorpe (academic lead).
Opinion
Terrence Loomis is a retired academic who has written several publications on energy policy. He is now a climate activist living in Kaiti.
OPINION
Shortly after Cyclone Gabrielle, a Trust Tairāwhiti survey found 73% of respondents were worried or very worried about climate change. Now, itappears, most people just want to get back to “normal”.
Of necessity, Gisborne District Council is focusing on recovery in its three-year plan – mostly around infrastructure repairs and improvements. But it’s also continuing to encourage communities (mostly rural) to prepare cyclone recovery/emergency plans.
The problem is we’re not getting back to “normal”. What’s really needed is long-term planning for living in a new reality, and few Tairāwhiti groups or communities are doing that at the moment.
The reality is climate change is coming at us like a tsunami.
So far in Tairāwhiti we’re not doing nearly enough to reduce emissions and prepare for a worst-case scenario, according to Niwa’s Dr Andrew Tait (Gisborne Herald, May 29, 2024).
Senior citizens are particularly vulnerable to impacts such as extreme heat, flooding, drought, poor air quality and food insecurity. Approximately 8500 retirees live in Gisborne, of whom 60% have some form of disability.
Recent health and wellbeing research by Te Weu Charitable Trust found elderly and disabled people are often forgotten during extreme weather events like Gabrielle. And an informal survey of Tairāwhiti Community Voice members identified communication breakdowns and gaps in services to vulnerable people during the cyclone and its aftermath.
Don’t get me wrong. Seniors want to be part of the solution, not just treated as victims or clients. We have historical knowledge, practical experience and skills to build on.
That’s why a few of us convened a series of meetings earlier this year that eventually led to the establishment of a group called the Seniors Climate Change Network (Scan).
Terrence Loomis.
Scan has been collaborating with Tairāwhiti Community Voice in developing a seniors-led climate adaptation initiative. TCV has more than 30 NGOs and agencies who provide assistance and support services for the elderly and other vulnerable populations.
Our intent is to organise several wānanga (forums) involving seniors from across Gisborne to discuss the impacts of climate change, prioritise risks to elders/pakeke, and identify practical strategies for how these risks can be addressed.
We want to build on seniors’ own experiences, as well as the way informal networks and marae-based initiatives overcame gaps in services and emergency systems during Cyclone Gabrielle.
We realise it’s a big challenge. But it’s also an opportunity for the seniors community to show what can be done at the grassroots level to prepare for and adapt to accelerating climate change.
If you’re a senior citizen and up for the challenge, Tairāwhiti Community Voice is hosting a meeting on August 12, 2024 at 12.30pm at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church to share more about this initiative and how you can be involved.
If you can’t attend in person, send a friend or care giver, or email us for further information. Contacts: Terrence Loomis loomistm@yahoo.com and Tracy Bacon contact@tcvhub.co.nz.
