Protesters say climate change should be front page news

Climate change protestors Ryan Longley, Josie Mossman, Scott Brough were waiting for Hawke's Bay Today reporters when they arrived for work. Photo / Warren Buckland

Extinction Rebellion Hawke's Bay/Heretaunga members spent the morning outside the Hawke's Bay Today's office in Hastings, protesting what they say is a lack of media coverage about climate change.

Ryan Longley, Josie Mossman and Scott Brough said on Tuesday morning that the coverage of the climate crisis in the region should be front page news.

"We are here to wake everyone up, just as a fire alarm," Mossman said.

"We feel like the public really needs to know what's happening."

Brough said a lot of the coverage regarding climate change in Hawke's Bay is on the opinion page and tends to be people arguing about whether it is happening or not.

"It's not constructive at all."

Mossman said while the likely declaration of a climate emergency by Hawke's Bay Regional Council on Wednesday was a step in the right direction, the issue was so much bigger.

"It's really important not to just leave it to the council or the Government to share news, but your newspaper to share what is happening now."

Hawke's Bay Today editor Craig Cooper said climate change was a big issue for the region and "we absolutely respect the right of people to draw attention to it".

Cooper said it was not unusual for people who were passionate about an issue to complain that they weren't seeing enough coverage.

Climate change protestors Ryan Longley, Josie Mossman, Scott Brough were waiting for Hawke's Bay Today reporters when they arrived for work. Photo / Warren Buckland

"We've had strong coverage around the HBRC's intention to declare a climate emergency, and it will continue to be a big issue for the region.

"And we are watching, like many locals, the anticipated declaration of a climate emergency by the regional council.

"And more importantly, if there is a declaration, what practical steps are we taking to determine the scale of the problem in Hawke's Bay, and what can we do about it?"

Longley said if everybody continues "business as usual", then a lot of Hawke's Bay will be under water.

"The world's resources are finite, we need to be aware of that and understand that actually plan for it," Mossman said.

They said people needed to consume less, for example less air travel, less meat and dairy, and cutting out plastic from their lives.

"There is a whole range of things you can do to start from home to reduce your carbon footprint," Mossman said.

"However it does come down to the Government, and it's just telling people they need to stand up."

The trio said they would be outside Hawke's Bay Today's offices every morning for the rest of the week.