Ministry for the Environment – Our land 2018
This report shows that in some areas soil and biodiversity are being seriously compromised by our actions. Chapter 2 focuses on climate variability and change.
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/sites/default/files/media/Environmental%20reporting/Our-land-2018.pdf
Ministry for the Environment – Our atmosphere and climate 2017
Westpac NZ Climate Change Impact Report April 2018
Westpac-NZ-Climate-Change-Impact-Report April 2018
Ministry for the Environment – Adapting to Climate Change in NZ, Stocktake Report of the Climate Change Adaptation Technical Working Group, December 2017
Briefing to the Incoming Ministers – Environment and climate
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/sites/default/files/media/About/final-bim-release-overarching-dec-2017.pdf
Warnings over NZs contribution to greenhouse gas emissions
On Nine to Noon 24th October
A new report on climate change has painted a stark picture of New Zealand’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. It says climate change is already potentially irreversibly affecting the country’s natural systems, and many aspects of climate change will continue for centuries. Global gross emissions of greenhouse gases rose 50 per cent from 1990 to 2013, mainly due to people burning more fossil fuels for electricity generation, heat, transport, manufacturing and construction. Despite New Zealand’s contribution being quite small at 0.17 per cent, we have the fifth-highest level of emissions per person of the 35 countries in the OECD. Kathryn Ryan speaks with James Renwick, a professor at the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences at Victoria University who contributed to the report.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018618970/warnings-over-nz-s-contribution-to-greenhouse-gas-emissions
Climate change: National is not for changing
www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/09/19/48847/climate-change-national-is-not-for-changing
1-in-20 chance climate change will wipe out humanity.
In a new report – they say there is a 1 in 20 chance of climate change wiping out humanity – as in the human race – by the end of the century.
See a article about the report in the Daily Mail.
See the full report in the PNAS journal.
Ministry for the Environment – Coastal Hazards and Climate Change: Guidance for local governments
Coastal Hazards and Climate Change: Guidance for local governments, 2017.
A more accurate picture of the scale of climate change than previous reports, predicting considerable risk from flooding and coastal erosion by only a moderate sea level rise.
Local Government NZ – Local Government Leaders Climate Change Declaration
Local Government Leaders Climate Change Declaration, July 2017
Mayors and Chairs representing local government from across New Zealand – including Kāpiti Mayor K. Gurunathan – has come together to :
- acknowledge the importance and urgent need to address climate change for the benefit of current and future generations;
- give support to the New Zealand Government for developing and implementing, in collaboration with councils, communities and businesses, an ambitious transition plan toward a low carbon and resilient New Zealand;
- encourage Government to be more ambitious with climate change mitigation measures;
- outline key commitments our councils will take in responding to the opportunities and risks posed by climate change; and
- recommend important guiding principles for responding to climate change.
Here’s Kāpiti Mayor K. Gurunathan’s comment on this in his Kāpiti News column ‘Notes from a Corner Dairy’, 2 August 2017.
Royal Society of New Zealand
Expert advice on climate change mitigation, includes a 2016 report Transition to a Low Carbon Economy for New Zealand. Get the full report, the short version or the graphic novel!
Globe-NZ
A cross-party grouping of MPs, advocates for action on climate change. It wants UK-style legislation to make NZ governments meet emissions reduction targets. In March 2017 it published research it commissioned from Vivid Economics, Net Zero New Zealand: Scenarios to achieve domestic emissions neutrality in second half of the century. See the Special Debate in Parliament about this report.
Can governments be sued for not meeting emissions targets? Yes! Could it happen in New Zealand? Read the Deconstruction Paris article Would the Urgenda case fly in New Zealand? Listen to Radio NZ’s interview with Sarah Thompson who is doing just that.
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
Commissioner Jan Wright’s 2017 report, Stepping stones to Paris and beyond: Climate change, progress, and predictability. A set of frequently asked questions is available here.
Green Party of Aotearoa NZ
In 2014 Greens commissioned research from BERL Estimating the impact of replacing the ETS with an Emissions Levy.
FAO, The State of Food and Agriculture
A global report on the relationship between climate change and food security that has a blunt message: it will require a profound transformation of food and agriculture systems world wide.
For all you engineers, mechanics and mad inventors…
Here’s how to convert your petrol-guzzler to a clean green electric one.