Got a spare Earth?

Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, October 19th, 2010 - 34 comments
Categories: Conservation, International, sustainability - Tags: ,

Does anyone have a spare Earth? Or two — or three? If so, could you please speak up, because humanity is going to need two Earth’s worth of resources by 2030.

This is the headline news from the WWF in their 2010 Living Planet Report. According to the media backgrounder summary:

The Ecological Footprint tracks the area of biologically productive land and water required to provide the renewable resources people use, and includes the space needed for infrastructure and vegetation to absorb waste carbon dioxide (CO2). It shows an alarming and consistent trend: one of continuous growth.

In 2007, the most recent year for which data is available, the Footprint exceeded the Earth’s biocapacity — the area actually available to produce renewable resources and absorb CO2 — by 50 per cent.

Overall, humanity’s Ecological Footprint has doubled since 1966. …

The Ecological Footprint exceeded the earth’s biocapacity by 50 per cent – meaning it takes 1.5 years for the Earth to produce the resources humanity consumes in a single year.

Humanity used the equivalent of 1.5 planets in 2007 to support its activities. If everyone in the world lived like an average resident of the United States or the United Arab Emirates, then a biocapacity equivalent to more than 4.5 Earths would be required to keep up with humanity’s consumption and CO2 emissions. By 2030 humanity will need the capacity of 2 Earths to absorb CO2 waste and keep up with natural resource consumption, and just over 2.8 planets each year by 2050.

I guess this must be fairly boring or unimportant news, because I haven’t seen any coverage at all in the (mostly Western) media that I keep an eye on. It was a brief mention on Slashdot that caught my eye, and now Google tells me that the only significant coverage seems to be in India (e.g. here, here, here, here). Perhaps the rest of the world will pick it up eventually.

It’s a pretty simple message really. We can’t have infinite growth in a finite system. The end of growth is clearly in sight. We are overreaching ourselves, and there will be consequences. Those that survive the unwinding of growth in good shape will be those that start planning for it now.

34 comments on “Got a spare Earth? ”

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  1. Draco T Bastard 1
    19 October 2010 at 9:21 am

    It’s a pretty simple message really. We can’t have infinite growth in a finite system.

    It’s simpler than that – we can’t support what we have never mind having any more growth.

    Those that survive the unwinding of growth in good shape will be those that start planning for it now.

    /agreed
    We need to become self-sufficient in as many ways as possible as fast as possible and we need to build our defenses so that when the shit really hits the fan (which it will do when people realise that there just isn’t enough for everyone) we can prevent others from taking away what we have.

  2. M 2
    19 October 2010 at 9:27 am

    Some commentators reckon it’s worse than that – that we’ll need six or seven earths to cope.

    I’m a fan of the steady state economy – growth as a concept is dead in the water on a finite planet but as some writers say the corporates won’t be happy until every last thing is dead so they can then say “Hurray, we did it!”

    The diachronic mindset has persisted for too long – time to pay the piper.

    Like this site on the steady state economies:

    http://steadystate.org/discover/downsides-of-economic-growth/

    • Draco T Bastard 2.1
      19 October 2010 at 10:25 am

      1.5 Earths required for present activities. To get every one out of poverty to an average of that of western nations requires 4.5. There’s absolutely no way we can keep going the way we are and yet that’s all the politicians promise us. The silly thing about it is if we dropped the pursuit of profit and the growth needed to sustain them we’d have better living standards than we do now.

  3. KJT 3
    19 October 2010 at 9:33 am

    Politicians are still talking about growth.

    Unfortunately we will not be able to have a sustainable economy with an economic system that requires constant growth to maintain itself.

    We still think we are going to out export every other country that thinks the same thing.
    Or we are just going to keep borrowing from China to buy their products. Exporting our rape of resources.

    The country that does the best will be the one that is most advanced in sustainable energy and resource use. It should be treated like a war. Money is always available for a war.

  4. Shane Gallagher 4
    19 October 2010 at 10:09 am

    This is why we need a new government desperately. Not just because NACT are a bunch of rwnjs but because we have to try to save ourselves from the slow moving train wreck that is the world economy as it is currently structured. Neither NACT nor Labour have grasped in any substantial way what needs to happen; one is a 19th century political party, Labour is 20th century. We need a 21st century political sensibility to take hold.

    • grumpy 4.1
      19 October 2010 at 10:22 am

      FFS, as if anything NZ can do will influence things. The only impact on NZ from this is the threat of invasion by resouirce hungry countries to take advantage of our locked up resources.

      The real issue here is the threat to NZ full stop!

      • Colonial Viper 4.1.1
        19 October 2010 at 10:32 am

        FFS, as if anything NZ can do will influence things.

        Anti nuclear stance.

      • Bright Red 4.1.2
        19 October 2010 at 11:43 am

        “FFS, as if anything NZ can do will influence things”

        yeah, that’s why we should have stayed out of World War 2 as well, eh grumpy? After all, we didn’t determine the outcome, we should have jsut stayed at home.

        Any community and individual can say it is relatively small in the global scale. Each community and individual has the responsibility to do its part or no-one does anything and you end up with a tragedy of the commons.

        • Zorr 4.1.2.1
          19 October 2010 at 12:55 pm

          Would also add to this that preparing for the reality in our local communities (whether that is at a local, national or international level) will help us and the people around us. We don’t necessarily need to save the world, just do our best to save ourselves in our own interests and work from there.

          We can’t expect to control others, we can only make the correct decisions for ourselves and hope to influence their decisions through our own actions and leadership.

        • grumpy 4.1.2.2
          19 October 2010 at 6:57 pm

          I thought all you lefties were mini Keith Lockes and against all wars (except those supporting Pol Pot). Don’t think you are correct in NZ having no effect on the outcome, Keith Park did a bloody good job – for one!

    • Colonial Viper 4.2
      19 October 2010 at 11:35 am

      Sorry to see you didn’t get into DCC, Shane, you should have been part of a large new group on Council.

      And that is really the problem isn’t it? The majority are not ready for, or willing to accept, what you might call a “21st century political sensibility”. They won’t support it wholesale. And frustrating as it may be, in a democracy that means that you will be relegated to being a minority party/coalition partner.

      This is not even mentioning the forces which are trying to drag us back to an 18th/19th century mindset.

      The transition in attitudes and awareness is ongoing and might occur over a relatively short period of time. It might happen relatively quickly: 20-30 years.

      Even so, the 21st century political sensibility you speak of needs to occur in both Labour and in the Greens. Neither has the complete set of detailed answers yet which will be both widely acceptable and implementable.

  5. Jeremy Harris 5
    19 October 2010 at 10:53 am

    Growth through increasing resource use ad infinitum is of course impossible but growth via discarded resources, efficiency and new resource exploitation can continue for a very, very long time…

    • Draco T Bastard 5.1
      19 October 2010 at 11:17 am

      Well, it could if we were already sustainable but we aren’t (too many people). No amount of efficiency gains can change that.

      And WTF are economists so stupid as to apply a word to the concept that they’re talking about which means one thing and then, decades later, try to say that it means something completely different? If they wanted to say “increased efficiency” then they should have damn well said that and not growth as they are not the same. ATM, they seem to be on a quest to change the meaning of the word capitalist to have the same meaning as the word entrepreneur.

      • Jeremy Harris 5.1.1
        19 October 2010 at 12:16 pm

        Growth comes in many forms, and means many things, one of which is increased efficiency… So growth does in part mean greater efficiency and always has…

        To think it means one thing or another only is pretty obtuse and displays why you support the glorious (and so successful) North Korean policy of Juche…

        • Zorr 5.1.1.1
          19 October 2010 at 12:58 pm

          Growth in efficiency isn’t infinite either though. It is one of the myths currently being perpetrated that advances in technology will save us. There is a limit and we are already reaching it.

          Unless of course you are able to discover dilithium. At which point we can all proclaim you as saviour.

        • Draco T Bastard 5.1.1.2
          19 October 2010 at 2:00 pm

          Growth
          Nothing in there about efficiency. If you want to say growth in efficiency then you actually need to say growth in efficiency or increased efficiency and not just growth and assume that everybody knows WTF you’re talking about because they probably won’t. Growth by itself has the meaning of something getting bigger.

          English is a very contextual language and economists seem to leave out the context that actually gives their statements the meaning that economists then say that they have.

          • Zorr 5.1.1.2.1
            19 October 2010 at 2:06 pm

            Sorry bout that Draco. You are correct in stating that what I was meaning was “increased efficiency”

            Wrong language used due to moron poster above… 😛

            • Jeremy Harris 5.1.1.2.1.1
              19 October 2010 at 4:08 pm

              @DTB, I didn’t just say growth and expect everyone knew what I meant, I referred to three kinds, it is myth to think that growth comes in only one form – increased non-renewable resource use…

              @Zorr, pretty poor to have to resort to insults…

              There is no doubt the next 20 years are going to see a big decline in wealth, much of our current wealth has been based on increase non-renewable resource but that does not mean that it is the only form of growth possible, there are technologies that can to utilise landfill and other waste sources turning into power and oil, we have solar, tidal and wind, etc options, we can reuse certain metals over and over, we have technologies such as telcoms, genetics, nanotechnology etc in early development that will markedly increase efficiency…

              Also as wealth increase population growth rates are dropping, eventually they will reach decline…

              Peak oil will be a massive transisition from our current overuse but I’m optimistic about the future…

              • Draco T Bastard …
                19 October 2010 at 5:08 pm

                hmmm…

                I wasn’t actually speaking about you per sé just making a basic rant. Jim Stanford in his book Economics for Everyone even has page or two on why growth means something different in economics terms than everywhere else.

                Sorry for the confusion.

  6. randal 6
    19 October 2010 at 1:25 pm

    hey doncha know it is my god given right to use as much stuff as I can afford.
    all the philosophes, hobbes, locke, hume, voltaire, marx etc etc have told me that private property is sacrosanct and therefore I can do anything I like with what is mine.
    i.e. stink up the whole planet just so as I can have more stuff than the guy next door.
    nifty.
    aint it.

  7. green jobs for climate justice 7
    19 October 2010 at 1:37 pm

    I’m still not hearing much about climate and environment policy from Labour. There seems to be little talk about climate change since Helen Clark left the leadership role and David Parker stepped away from the climate role.

    Time to step up on environment policy, if you want the greens to be in a coalition Government with you. Brownlee should be an easy target for Labour. Mining in National Parks dented him, why not finish the job.

  8. M 8
    19 October 2010 at 1:39 pm

    any gains in efficiency = progress trap 🙁

  9. Thomas Forrow 9
    19 October 2010 at 1:52 pm

    It will probably be for the best if we all just voted for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

  10. Robert Atack 10
    19 October 2010 at 5:20 pm

    To keep Kiwi Saver alive we have to kill the environment (the human friendly one), I will vote for any party that promises to stop this growth based ponzi savings scam … oh and who NEVER voted for it in the first place … dose that leave anyone? For some reason the Greed Party thought it was ok … go figure?
    And sorry to harp on but if the latest report http://oilcrash.com/articles/wake_up2.htm (ignored by Blinglish, Brownlee, and Key John Il and I am sure Geoff & co also) is correct and we are going to see the brown stuff hitting the rotating device around 2012, then it doesn’t matter who you vote for marshal law is a given.
    If I bother hanging around I will be able to say I told ya so in a few years, just as I am now about so many things ‘we’ predicted.
    Ignoring the facts does not mean they will go away, the Easter Islanders discovered that http://oilcrash.com/articles/easter.htm

  11. Robert Atack 11
    19 October 2010 at 6:42 pm

    SNIP oil and gas – which were formed over millions of years. Today the world burns 400 years worth of this accumulated, biological matter every year, 3 to 4 times more than 1956. While plants are renewable resource, fossil carbon is not. END SNIP
    http://www.navdanya.org/climate-change/climate-change-and-biodiversity

    And from George Monbiot (another troll?)
    In 2003, the biologist Jeffrey Dukes calculated that the fossil fuels we burn in one year were made from organic matter “containing 44 x 10 to the 18 grams of carbon, which is more than 400 times the net primary productivity of the planet’s current biota.” In plain English, this means that every year we use four centuries’ worth of plants and animals.
    http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/12/06/worse-than-fossil-fuel/

    These facts were known in 2003. When did the greens gave us Kiwi Saver ? Even the name is an oxymoron … for KS to pay out an 18yo in 47 years … and keep paying. Kiwis will have to go extinct. The greeds are telling 18 year olds to vote for them because they are the only hope, yet fail to say anything about the money KS is steeling from everyone.
    Am I the only one that thinks this is wrong?
    And least we forget 2012 is only 431 days away, and I am not talking Mayan calendar rubbish.
    If we are going to find a new planet we better hurry up, as this one will rid herself of this pesky species.

  12. NickS 12
    19 October 2010 at 6:55 pm

    Huh?

    I could have sworn the Rand-bots and libertarians with the techno-fetishes would have done a drive by proclaiming SPACE as the answer, leading to me wielding the cluebat with glee 🙁

    Anyhow, the best post I’ve thus far come across is The High Frontier, Redux by the kick-arse sci-fi author Charles Stross. It’s long, and comes with a 800+ comment thread, but the post itself is not to hard on the brain 😛

    So here’s the basics:

    1) Energy + reaction mass, just because it’s weightless, doesn’t mean it no longer has mass. i.e. you need to chuck stuff out the rear end to move a space-vehicle, not to mention the energy to kick that mass out. And while ion-thrusters are looking good, they still need an energy source to work, not to mention kick said energy source into orbit. Note, outside the orbit of Mars, solar energy starts to become a lot less useful in terms of energy density, fusion is still a pipe dream and we’ll likely be using radioactives on earth for domestic and industrial energy.

    2) Life support. Monkeys in a can actually require a good deal of water, food, and shielding to stay viable, on top of recycling loop equipment, all of which adds to the mass of your space vehicle. And thus your reaction mass and energy requirements. And add in social requirements to keep your monkeys sane, and well, you can see where that’s heading…

    3) Distance. As Douglas Adam’s put it, space is big. So very, very big, that the vast majority of people can’t grok it. Distances, which without a uber means of moving about, means it will take time, lots of time, to cross even small distances. In particular, the material in the Asteroid Belt isn’t close together like in most science fantasy presentations*, and adding in orbits, it leads to all sorts of fun with delta vee costs and time required to send information and matter from place to place.

    4) AI: in the absence of humans, you need systems that will do the job and deal with damage, fuck-ups, windows patches, gremlins and Murphy’s Law. Systems that are presently still in infancy, and in the event of being deployed in space, need to be shielded.

    5) Space weather: Solar flares are not your friend. Nor are high energy cosmic particles and radiation.

    6) Economics. Economics. Economics. i.e. it’s probably cheaper to recycle, and increase efficiencies and make birth control and family planing widespread, than to throw monkeys into space.

    And one last thing: we still suck at building closed ecosystems, which are rather better at carbon, oxygen and water cycling than the machines we presently have.

    • Colonial Viper 12.1
      19 October 2010 at 7:21 pm

      AI: in the absence of humans, you need systems that will do the job and deal with damage, fuck-ups, windows patches

      As in MS Windows patches? 😯

      • NickS 12.1.1
        19 October 2010 at 7:34 pm

        Well, Microsoft does have major market share, on top of funding a lot of research 😛

        *ahem*

        I pinched the idea from Ken MacLeod’s book Newton’s Wake. Where fossil MS Windows patches still lurk, like endogenous retroviruses, waiting to awake and cause potential trouble 😛

  13. Zarchoff 13
    21 October 2010 at 6:02 pm

    “Humanity used the equivalent of 1.5 planets in 2007 to support its activities”

    What the f**k? How did humanity do that then – has the UN got another planet tucked away somewhere we don’t know about? This is a completely meaningless statistic because obviously it is impossible to use more resources than the world currently has. The word “equivalent” is the weasel word here. 1.5 planets? Which planet? Mars? It suggests that the UN has a standard approved theoretical world resource useage model that it has used to compare with what has happened in reality. More f**king bulls**t computer models that are flawed from the outset.

    So, I will see you all in 2030 when the sky hasn’t fallen, the climate hasn’t dramatically warmed and the world hasn’t run out of resources.

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    It’s 4:10pm in the morning, and you’re in the middle lane heading north on the great southern motorway of our nation’s capital, Auckland. There are no cars directly in front of you, but quite a few in the lane to your left. Suddenly, without warning, a black ute enters your ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    3 days ago
  • NPC teams will now be allowed to actually use the Ranfurly Shield in play

    Following decades of controversy, the governing body of New Zealand rugby, New Zealand Rugby, has ruled that the team currently holding the Ranfurly Shield may once again use it in play during the National Provincial Championship (NPC). The ruling restores the utility of a prize that for many years was ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    3 days ago
  • Climbing out of the hamster wheel

    I arrived home with a head full of fresh ideas about mindfulness and curbing impulsive aspects in my character.On the second night home I grabbed a piece of ginger and began swiftly slicing it on our industrial strength mandolin, the one I have learned through painful experience to treat with ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • More Notes From Stinky Town

    Good morning, folks. Another wee note from a chilly Rotorua morning that looks much clearer than yesterday. As I write, the pink glow in the east is slowly growing, and soon, the palest of blue skies should become a bit more royal.A couple of people mentioned yesterday that I should ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Make it make sense: why axe valuable local projects?

    Last week, Matt looked at how the government wants to pour a huge chunk of civic infrastructure funding for a generation  into one mega-road up North, at huge cost and huge opportunity cost. A smaller but no less important feature of the National Land Transport Plan devised by Minister of Transport ...
    Greater AucklandBy Jolisa
    3 days ago
  • Driving blind at higher speeds

    An open letter by experts about plans to raise speed limits warns the “tragic consequence will be more New Zealanders losing their lives or suffering severe injury, along with a substantial burden on the nation's healthcare and rehabilitation services”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • 2024’s unusually persistent warmth

    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink My inaugural post on The Climate Brink 18 months ago looked at the year 2024, and found that it was likely to be the warmest year on record on the back of a (than forecast) El Nino event. I suggested “there is a real chance ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • National plan for 2000 more Kiwis a year in prison

    Open for allYesterday, Luxon congratulated his government on a job well done with emergency housing numbers, but advocates have been saying it‘s likely many are on the streets and sleeping in cars.Q&A featured some of the folks this weekend - homeless and in cars. Yes.The government’s also confirmed they stopped ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • I Found a Note in a Tree

    Hi,On most days I try to go on a walk through nature to clear my head from the horrors of life. Because as much as I like people, I also think it’s incredibly important to get very far away from them. To be reminded that there are also birds, lizards, ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Politicians need to lift their game

    Declining trust in New Zealand politicians should be a warning to them to lift their game. Results from the New Zealand Election Study for the 2023 election show that the level of trust in politicians has once again declined. Perhaps it is not surprising that the results, shared as part ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Police say they won’t respond to bomb threats anymore as ‘it’s never anything’

    Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says that New Zealand’s police force will no longer respond to bomb threats, in an attempt to cut costs and redirect police resources to less boring activities. Coster said that threat response and bomb disposal was a “fairly obvious” area for downsizing, as bomb threats are ...
    The CivilianBy Ben Uffindell
    4 days ago
  • A dysfunctional watchdog

    The reality of any right depends on how well it is enforced. But as The Post points out this morning, our right to official information isn't being enforced very well at all: More than a quarter of complaints about access to official information languish for more than a year, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Climate Change: The threat of a good example

    Since taking office, the climate-denier National government has gutted agricultural emissions pricing, ended the clean car discount, repealed water quality standards which would have reduced agricultural emissions, gutted the clean car standard, killed the GIDI scheme, and reversed efforts to reduce pollution subsidies in the ETS - basically every significant ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Vegas Baby

    Good morning, lovely people. Don’t worry. This isn’t really a newsletter, just a quick note. I’m sitting in our lounge, looking out over a gloomy sky. Although being Rotorua, the view is periodically interrupted by steam bursting from pipes and dispersing—like an Eastern European industrial hellscape during the Cold War.Drinking ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Why Entrust Needs New Leadership

    I am part of a new team running in the Entrust election in October. Entrust is a community electricity trust representing a significant part of Auckland, set up to serve the community. It is governed by five trustees are elected every three years in an election the trust itself oversees. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    4 days ago
  • London Bridge is falling down

    In the UK, London is the latest of council groups to signal potential bankruptcy.That’s after Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city, went bankrupt in June, resulting in reduced sanitation services, libraries cut, and dimmed streetlights.Some in the city described things as “Dickens” like.Please, Sir, Can I have some more?For families with ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Govt may kick elderly out of hospitals

    The Government is considering how to shunt elderly people out of hospitals, and also how to cut their access to other support. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Getting the nephs off the couch

    The so-called “Prince of the Provinces”, Shane Jones, went home last Friday. Perhaps not quite literally home, more like 20 kilometres down the road from his house on the outskirts of Kerikeri. With its airport, its rapidly growing (mostly retired) population, and a commercial centre with all the big retail ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • De moralibus orcorum: Sargon of Akkad, Rings of Power, Evil, and George R.R. Martin

    I have noted before that The Rings of Power has attracted its unfortunate share of culture war obsessives. Essentially, for a certain type of individual, railing on about the Wokery of Modern Media is a means of making themselves a online livelihood. Clicks and views and advertising revenue, and all ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #37

    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, September 8, 2024 thru Sat, September 14, 2024. Story of the week From time to time we like to make our Story of the Week all about us— and ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago
  • Salvation For Us All

    Yesterday, I ruminated about the effects of being a political follower.And, within politics, David Seymour was smart enough on Friday to divert attention from “race blind” policies [what about gender blind I thought - thinking of maternity wards] and cutting school lunches by throwing meat to the media. Teachers were ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • A warm embrace

    Far, far away from here lives our King. Some of his subjects can be quite the forelock tuggers, but plenty of us are not like that, and why don't I wheel out my favourite old story once more about Kiwi soldiers in the North African desert?Field Marshal Montgomery takes offence ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Literal clowns are running the place, we must put a timeout on this stupidity… right Aotearoa?

    These people are inept on every level. They’re inept to the detriment of our internal politics, cohesion and increasingly our international reputation. And they are reveling in the fact they are getting away with it. We cannot even have “respectful debate” with a government that clearly rejects the very ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    6 days ago
  • Fact brief – Does manmade CO2 have any detectable fingerprint?

    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does manmade CO2 have any ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • Judge Not.

    Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1-2FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY men and women professing the Christian faith would appear to have imperilled their immortal souls. ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago
  • Managed Democracy: Letting The People Decide, But Only When They Can Be Relied Upon To Give the Righ...

    Uh-uh! Not So Fast, Citizens! The power to initiate systemic change remains where it has always been in New Zealand’s representative democracy – in Parliament. To order a binding referendum, the House of Representatives must first to be persuaded that, on the question proposed, sharing its decision-making power with the people ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago
  • Looking For Labour’s Vital Signs.

    Flatlining: With no evidence of a genuine policy disruptor at work in Labour’s ranks, New Zealand’s wealthiest citizens can sleep easy.PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN has walked a picket-line. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has threatened “price-gauging” grocery retailers with price control. The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform situates it well to the left of Sir ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago
  • Forty Years Of Remembering To Forget.

    The Beginning of the End: Rogernomics became the short-hand descriptor for all the radical changes that swept away New Zealand’s social-democratic economy and society between 1984 and 1990. In the bitterest of ironies, those changes were introduced by the very same party which had entrenched New Zealand social-democracy 50 years earlier. ...
    Bowalley Road
    6 days ago
  • Kōrero Mai – Speak to Me.

    Good morning all you lovely people. 🙂I woke up this morning, and it felt a bit like the last day of school. You might recall from earlier in the week that I’m heading home to Rotorua to see an old friend who doesn’t have much time. A sad journey, but ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago
  • Winning ways

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Street architecture adjustment, KolkataShare Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • 48 seconds on a plan that would reverberate for a million years

    Despite fears that Trump presidency would be disastrous for progress on climate change, the topic barely rated a mention in the Presidential debate. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Using blunt instruments and magical thinking to ignore evidence of harm

    The abrupt cancellations and suspensions of Government spending also caused private sector hiring, spending, and investment to freeze up for the first six months of the year. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThis week we learned:The new National/ACT/NZ First Coalition Government ignored advice from Treasury that it didn’t have to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 days ago
  • Is This A Dagger Which I See Before Me: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power Episode 5 (Seaso...

    Another week of The Rings of Power, season two, and another confirmation that things are definitely coming together for the show. The fifth Episode of season one represented the nadir of the series. Now? Amid the firmer footing of 2024, Episode Five represents further a further step towards excellent Tolkien ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    7 days ago
  • In Open Seas; A Book

    The background to In Open Seas: How the New Zealand Labour Government Went Wrong:2017-2023Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand, published in 2020, proved more successful than either I or the publisher (VUP, now Te Herenga Waka University Press) expected. I had expected that it would ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to Sept 13

    The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the climate implications of the US Presidential elections; and special guests Janet ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Do or do not. There is no try

    1. Upon receiving evidence that school lunches were doing a marvellous job of improving outcomes for students, David Seymour did what?a. Declared we need much more of this sort of good news and poured extra resources and funding into them b. Emailed Atlas network to ask what to do next c. Cut ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago
  • Dangerous ground

    The Waitangi Tribunal has reported back on National's proposed changes to gut the Marine and Coastal Area Act and steal the foreshore and seabed for its greedy fishing-industry donors, and declared it to be another huge violation of ti Tiriti: The Waitangi Tribunal has found government changes to the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Climate Change: National wants to cheat on Paris

    In 2016, the then-National government signed the Paris Agreement, committing Aotearoa to a 30 (later 50) percent reduction in emissions by 2030. When questioned about how they intended to meet that target with their complete absence of effective climate policy, they made a lot of noise about how it was ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago
  • Treasury warned Govt lower debt limits meant less ‘productivity-enhancing investment’

    Treasury’s advice to Cabinet was that the new Government could actually prudently carry net core Crown debt of up to 50% of GDP. But Luxon and Willis instead chose to portray the Government’s finances as in such a mess they had no choice but to carve 6.5% to 7.5% off ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Is the Media Complicit?

    This is a long read. Open to all.SYNOPSIS: Traditional media is at a cross roads. There is a need for those in the media landscape, as it stands, to earn enough to stay afloat, but also come across as balanced and neutral to keep its audiences.In America, NYT’s liberal leaning ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Black Friday

    It's Black Friday, the end of the weekYou take my hand and hold it gently up against your cheekIt's all in my head, it's all in my mindI see the darkness where you see the lightSong by Tom OdellFriday the 13th, don’t be afraid.No, really, don’t. Everything has felt a ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 13-September-2024

    Ooh, Friday the thirteenth. Spooky! Is that why certain zombie ideas have been stalking the landscape this week, like the Mayor’s brainwave for a motorway bridge from Kauri Point to Point Chev? Read on and find out. This roundup, like all our coverage, is brought to you by the Greater ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #37 2024

    Open access notables Early knowledge but delays in climate actions: An ecocide case against both transnational oil corporations and national governments, Hauser et al., Environmental Science & Policy: Cast within the wide context of investigating the collusion at play between powerful political-economic actors and decision-makers as monopolists and debates about ‘the modern ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Tourism on the table for Pacific Ministers’ meet-up

    Tourism and Hospitality Minister Matt Doocey will meet with Trade and Tourism Minister of Australia Don Farrell and Fiji Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica in Rotorua this weekend for a trilateral tourism discussion. “Like in New Zealand, tourism plays a significant role in Australia and Fiji’s economy, contributing massively to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Young people report on family and sexual violence

    The Te Puna Aonui Expert Advisory Group for Children and Young People has presented its report today on improving family and sexual violence outcomes for young people, to the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Karen Chhour.  The presentation at the Auckland event was an opportunity for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • $18 million being invested in the victims of crime

    The Government is putting more than $18 million towards improving the experience of the criminal justice system for victims, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Minister for Children Karen Chhour say. “No one should experience crime, but for those who through no fault of their own become victims, they need to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 hours ago
  • Landmark phonics check in te reo Māori

    For the first time, schools can use a purpose-built tool to check how a child is progressing in reading through te reo Māori. “Around 45 schools are trialling a New Zealand first te reo Māori phonics check, known as Hihira Weteoro. It will help kaiako (teachers) focus on what ākonga ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • New sea walls safeguard Ōpōtiki’s transformation

    Two new breakwater walls at Pākihikura (Ōpōtiki) Harbour will provide boats with safe harbour access to support the continued growth of aquaculture in Bay of Plenty, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones say. The Ministers and leaders from Tē Tāwharau o Te Whakatōhea and other ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Kitmap to improve access to science infrastructure

    Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced an online platform to optimise the use of New Zealand’s science and technology research infrastructure and to link the public and private sector. “This country is home to world-class science, technology, and engineering expertise. Kitmap is set to empower Kiwi innovators, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Driving the uptake of low emission heavy vehicles

    The Government has launched the Low Emissions Heavy Vehicle Fund (LEHVF) to promote innovation and offset the cost of hundreds of heavy vehicles powered by clean technologies, Energy Minister Simeon Brown and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts say. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Speech on replacing the Resource Management Act

    Replacing the RMA Hon Chris Bishop: Good morning, it is great to be with you. Can I first acknowledge the Resource Management Law Association for hosting us here today. Can I also acknowledge my Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Simon Court, who is on stage with me. He has assisted me in establishing the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Replacement for the Resource Management Act takes shape

    Two new laws will be developed to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA), with the enjoyment of property rights as their guiding principle, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court say. “The RMA was passed with good intentions in 1991 but has proved a failure in practice. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Tough laws pass to make gang life uncomfortable

    Legislation passed through Parliament today will provide police and the courts with additional tools to crack down on gangs that peddle misery and intimidation throughout New Zealand, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “From November 21, gang insignia will be banned in all public places, courts will be able to issue non-consorting orders, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • New levy rates set to ensure continued funding of FENZ

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the rates for the redesigned levy that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) from July 2026.  “Earlier this year FENZ consulted publicly on a 5.2 percent increase to the levy. I was not convinced that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Police allocate Officers to Beat and Gang Units

    The Coalition Government welcomes Police’s announcement today to deploy more police on the beat and staff to Gang Disruption Units.  An additional 70 officers will be allocated to Community Beat Teams across towns and regional centres.  This builds on the deployment of beat officers in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch CBDs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Consultation begins on significant updates to the biosecurity system

    Proposals to strengthen the country’s vital biosecurity system, including higher fines for passengers bringing in undeclared high-risk goods, greater flexibility around importing requirements, and fairer cost sharing for biosecurity responses have been released today for public consultation. Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says “The future is about resilience and the 30-year-old ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Wānaka community to benefit from new overnight health service

    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says an Overnight Acute Care Service opening in October will provide people in Wānaka and the surrounding area with the assurance of quality overnight care closer to home.  “When I was in Wānaka earlier this year, I announced funding for an overnight health service – ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Preventing potholes with data-driven technology

    The Government is rolling out data collection vans across the country to better understand the condition of our road network to prevent potholes from forming in the first place, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.  “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is a key priority for the Government and increasing ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • GDP data shows effect of high interest rates

    Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for the quarter to June 2024 reinforces how an extended period of high interest rates has meant tough times for families, businesses, and communities, but recent indications show the economy is starting to bounce back, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ data released today ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • NZ to host first Fiji, Australia trilateral trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua

    Trade Minister Todd McClay will host Fijian Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica and Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for trilateral trade talks in Rotorua this weekend. “Fiji is one of the largest economies in the Pacific and is a respected partner for Australia and New Zealand,” Mr McClay says. Australia and New Zealand ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • NZ hosts Annual CER Trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua

    Trade Minister Todd McClay will meet with Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua this weekend.  “CER is our most comprehensive agreement covering trade, labour mobility, harmonisation of standards and political cooperation. It underpins an important trading relationship worth $32 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Government proposing changes to jury trials

    The Government is seeking the public’s feedback on two major changes to jury trials in order to improve court timeliness, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “The first proposal would increase the offence threshold at which a defendant can decide to have their case heard by a jury. “The second is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Business key to regional economic dialogue

    Local businesses and industries need to be front and centre in conversations about how regions plan to grow their economies, Regional Development Shane Jones says. The nationwide series of summits aims to facilitate conversations about regional economic growth and opportunities to drive productivity, prosperity and resilience through the Coalition Government’s Regional ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • More funding for Growing Up in New Zealand study

    The Government is investing $16.8 million over the next four years to extend the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) Longitudinal Study. GUiNZ is New Zealand’s largest longitudinal study of child health and wellbeing and has followed the lives of more than 6000 children born in 2009 and 2010, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Tough targets for charter schools will raise achievement

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that Charter Schools will face a combination of minimum performance thresholds and stretch targets for achievement, attendance and financial sustainability. “Charter schools will be given greater freedom to respond to diverse student needs in innovative ways, but they will be held to a much ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • NZ votes for Middle East resolution at UN

    New Zealand has voted for a United Nations resolution on Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian Territory with some caveats, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand’s yes vote is fundamentally a signal of our strong support for international law and the need for a two-state solution,” Mr Peters says.    “The Israel-Palestine ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Honouring the legacy of New Zealand’s suffragists

    Suffrage Day is an opportunity to reaffirm New Zealand’s commitment to ensuring we continue to be a world leader in gender equality, Minister for Women Nicola Grigg says. “On 19 September, 131 years ago, New Zealand became the first nation in the world where women gained the right to vote. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Foreign Minister to travel to New York, French Polynesia

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters is travelling to New York next week to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, followed by a visit to French Polynesia. “In the context of the myriad regional and global crises, our engagements in New York will demonstrate New Zealand’s strong support for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Thanking social workers on their national day

    “Today, on Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers’ Day, I would like to recognise the tremendous effort social workers make not just today, but every day,” Children’s Minister and Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour says. “I thank all those working on the front line for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Minister of State for Trade heads to Laos for ASEAN meetings

    Minister of State for Trade Nicola Grigg will travel to Laos this week to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers’ Meetings in Vientiane.   “The Government is committed to strengthening our relationship with ASEAN,” Ms Grigg says. “With next year marking 50 years since New Zealand became ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Members appointed to retail crime MAG

    The Government has appointed four members to the Ministerial Advisory Group for victims of retail crime, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “I am delighted to appoint Michael Hill’s national retail manager Michael Bell to the group, as well as Waikato community advocate and business ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Speech to the New Zealand Nurses Organisation AGM and Conference 2024

    It’s my pleasure to be here to join the opening of the NZNO AGM and Conference for 2024.  First, I’d like to thank NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku, NZNO President, Anne Daniels, and Chief Execuitve Paul Gaulter for inviting me to speak today.  Thank you also to all the NZNO members ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Improvements for New Zealand authors

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says changes to the Public Lending Right [PLR] scheme will help benefit both the National Library and authors who have books available in New Zealand libraries. “I am amending the regulations so that eligible authors will no longer have to reapply every year ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Minister commends Police for gang operation

    Police Minister Mark Mitchell congratulates Police for the outstanding result of their most recent operation, targeting the Comancheros. “That Police have been able to round up the majority of the Comancheros leadership, and many of their patched members and prospects, shows not only the capability of Police, but also shows ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • New appointments to the EPA board

    Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has announced a major refresh of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) board with four new appointments and one reappointment.   The new board members are Barry O’Neil, Jennifer Scoular, Alison Stewart and Nancy Tuaine, who have been appointed for a three-year term ending in August 2027.  “I would ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Enabling rural recovery works in Hawke’s Bay

    Cabinet has approved an Order in Council to enable severe weather recovery works to continue in the Hawke’s Bay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell say. “Cyclone Gabrielle and the other severe weather events in early 2023 caused significant loss and damage to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • FamilyBoost childcare payment registrations open

    From today, low-to-middle-income families with young children can register for the new FamilyBoost payment, to help them meet early childhood education (ECE) costs. The scheme was introduced as part of the Government’s tax relief plan to help Kiwis who are doing it tough. “FamilyBoost is one of the ways we ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Prioritising victims with tougher sentences

    The Government has today agreed to introduce sentencing reforms to Parliament this week that will ensure criminals face real consequences for crime and victims are prioritised, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. "In recent years, there has been a concerning trend where the courts have imposed fewer and shorter prison sentences ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Targets data confirms rise in violent crime

    The first quarterly report on progress against the nine public service targets show promising results in some areas and the scale of the challenge in others, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “Our Government reinstated targets to focus our public sector on driving better results for New Zealanders in health, education, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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