New Zealand's efforts to prevent climate change have not been good enough, so far. Photo / NZME
New Zealand's efforts to prevent climate change have not been good enough, so far. Photo / NZME
OPINION:
Kia ora James Shaw,
Our message is simple: Please take a lead in Glasgow. Hold your nerve. Be bold. Be fearless. Climate change is an emergency and reversing it demands immediate action.
Aotearoa New Zealand must lead because our small voice resonates globally. Others will follow.
But we also have national shame and we have work to do.
You have said Aotearoa New Zealand's record on Paris Agreement commitments is embarrassing. It is also embarrassing that the truth behind the international "clean, green and kind" accolades is a nasty fact - we are, in truth, the world's sixth biggest gross emitter per person of greenhouse gases.
That's a shameful statistic but it must propel a moral mandate to take bold, urgent action and go further and faster - now.
New Zealand must commit to substantial methane emissions reductions and get real about slashing our agriculture emissions.
To honour the transparency we espouse we must reveal, accept and redress our own dirty secrets. And then we can push for global emissions reduction targets which will get us to 1.5 to stay alive.
Sometimes the ants can move the elephants. Can James Shaw be that ant? Photo / NZME
Climate change is an issue of life and death. For many nations in the Global South the terrifying, hellish headlines and images we see are their reality. Our Pacific neighbours are desperate for progress - climate change affects both their quality of life and their extent of life, and represents nothing short of an existential threat.
We need bold, urgent action to demand financial commitments are honoured for mitigation and adaptation action in these frontline countries.
We must have political action and leadership now. People are with you. The world is on life support and the irreversible tipping points are winking at us just over the horizon.
We all want a liveable world for our nation's mokopuna. That shared human need runs deep.
You are our voice James Shaw –" Kia mau tonu te puruhi - Be the persistent flea".
- Tylee and Elliott are two Hawke's Bay women who have recently completed Al Gore's Climate Reality Leadership Training online. The course asks trainees to commit to Acts of Leadership to increase awareness of climate change. "We were motivated to find effective ways to act to combat armchair anxiety," Elliott says. "It's easy to feel overwhelmed and immobilised by the reality of it. We want to channel that anxiety into positive action and do believe every small act helps." Tylee says they are planning a range of activities in Hawke's Bay, from talking with local body leaders through to a sustainability focused clothing swap event.
