The government needs to understand that climate mitigation and adaptation are twins

Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, March 8th, 2023 - 39 comments
Categories: climate change, james shaw - Tags: , , , ,

Micky has a post up, Triangulating climate change, about the jarring shift yesterday from Labour on road transport and climate. Transport Minister Michael Wood released a promising and exciting plan for a major shift in New Zealand transport systems to help mitigate climate change by reducing our GHG emissions.

Then Chris Hipkins as Prime Minister announced that recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle will take precedence. There’s a good explainer here (and in other comments), about the politics involved and what just happened. I’m going to focus on climate impacts and the concept of transition.

In the panic shift to adaptation over mitigation, what many people are missing is that transition, the process by which we both mitigate and adapt as we shift to a regenerative economy, gives us the best chance of future security. It offers us different but still good lives.

The key here is to shift from binary thinking to both/and. Rather than getting caught up in adaptation vs mitigation arguments (or cyclone recovery vs transition road transport strategy), simply shifting to both/and thinking opens up new options.

Here’s head of communications at GreenpeaceNZ yesterday,

I’ll reiterate what Nick is saying: the best adaptations are also mitigations that both build resilience AND reduce emissions. There is a synergy that happens when we do both, each feeding into and enhancing the other.

There is an excellent piece by Climate Minister James Shaw in the Guardian this week, We can’t afford to choose adaptation over cutting emissions – suggesting otherwise is dangerous,

Despite what some New Zealand right-wingers are arguing, adaptation will not help us in a world three degrees warmer.

Let me use an example: it will be almost impossible to farm in a world that is three degrees warmer. Absent any plan to cut emissions, National and Act look willing enough to sacrifice the future of rural communities on the altar of short-term electoral politics.

Adaptation is critical but has its limits. We must limit warming as much as we can so we have a chance to adapt. Even with the progress we’ve made, our likely future still lies well beyond thresholds considered “safe”. Without urgent action to limit warming, we will very quickly reach adaptation limits. To be resilient, we need both immediate and urgent action to limit warming, and action to adapt to what we know cannot be avoided. With a new cyclone recovery taskforce up and running, I have three guideposts that should direct where we go from here.

The Climate Minister’s three guideposts,

The impacts of climate change will get worse until we stop polluting the atmosphere.

Two degrees of warming is not as bad as three degrees – and 1.5 degrees not as bad as two degrees. Urgent action to cut emissions is the frontline of defence. Every fraction of a degree matters. Every tonne of climate pollution that is stopped matters.

Some degree of climate change is already locked in, we need to plan for this.

Our focus needs to shift from short-term preparedness towards creating stronger communities. Resilient, affordable, inclusive communities that can meet everyone’s needs despite the challenges of the disrupted climate.

We need to get serious about this new approach. Otherwise, the changes we experience will be forced on us by extreme weather disasters, rather than our efforts to create vibrant, connected communities, even as climate change shapes how we live.

Extreme weather affects everyone, some people are more badly affected, we need to make transition fair.

The option to move somewhere safer, less prone to flooding doesn’t exist for many people. Some people will be forced to go into debt to replace essentials like beds or curtains. This unequal impact puts people at greater risk when the next inevitable climate-fuelled weather event arrives.

How we go about building resilient communities is a question that we all need to be asking ourselves. For me, the answer is clear: a more equal and inclusive society is a more adaptive and resilient society.

When I say the government needs to understand that mitigation and transition are twins, I of course mean Labour. It’s already the core position the Greens. Labour have to win the election, so I appreciate they’re between a rock and a hard place. However, messaging is vital on this issue at this time. When climate is at the forefront of many people’s minds, it’s the exact time to talk about the crucial nature of mitigation and how it relates to adaptation.

This is also why having more Greens in government is one of the most straight forward ways of getting better action on climate. Why isn’t Shaw, the government’s Climate Minister, being used by Labour at the moment? More Green MPs and thus more negotiating power post-election would mean we more have climate literate and articulate people speaking for the government as well as helping design the transition systems we desperately need.

39 comments on “The government needs to understand that climate mitigation and adaptation are twins ”

  1. adam 1

    I'm not sure we have a choice but to adapt. In that no government can stop the main polluters at this point. Their greed/profit motivation is all consuming, they will not be stopped from making more money – even if it kills the rest of us.

    There is no political will to change. A lot of excuses, and a lot of hand wringing – but outside virtue signalling policy which can be over turned at a press conference. We are not doing enough.

    The Greens and Te Pāti Māori will act . Whilst nat/act will lock us into the death path in the name of greed.

    • weka 1.1

      If we want to convince people to change, or to vote GP/TPM, then we have to give them a narrative that works. The narrative of transition is good because it offers ways for people to get involved, as well as showcases the now huge number of transition techs in existence and development.

      If someone joins the narrative of 'adapt rather than mitigate', or 'adapt because it's too late', they are joining the people sealing out fate to some truly horrific. It's a choice, which narrative we pick up and offer to the world.

      • adam 1.1.1

        I don't think tech is going to help much. I think getting some basics rights is the answer.

        Like why the hell are we not investing in coastal shipping? We don't need to move everything via trucks. Trucks are good for moving a lot of stuff small distances, also for moving goods into the interior of the nation. But around it we are blessed with long coasts, good harbours and some accessible rivers. Plus most people in this country live rather close to said harbours.

        I get we need to get people to vote the Greens and Te Pāti Māori if we want to actually have a constructive response to this problem. Rather than the scraps of paper we are getting from the rest of them.

  2. Robert Guyton 2

    "The catastrophic flood damage to the roading networks means we will have to revisit the GPS, but make no mistake, we remain focused on climate action. In many cases, there will be chance to future-proof the network as we repair it."

    Indeed.

  3. That_guy 3

    Indeed. The rural lifestyle and community is worth protecting, and main threat to that lifestyle and community is a conga-line of extreme weather events that makes farming steadily less viable. I'm no farming expert but I have my ear to the ground when it comes to horticulture/viticulture, and they are reeling. Some growers are starting to ask if it's worth it.

    It's a shame that some unrepresentative voices in that community seem to have a visceral hatred of the Greens. That's like mistaking the fire alarm for the fire. Like a fire alarm, the Greens can be an annoying, repetitive, piercing shriek that nobody wants to hear. That's rather the point. Don't deal with the fire by taking the batteries out of the fire alarm!

    • bwaghorn 3.1

      I think you'll find carbon farming by foreign polluters is the biggest immediate risk to rural nz ,especially sheep and beef,

      Followed very closely by the cc

      • Graeme 3.1.1

        Think it's more that sheep, and beef in a lot of country, has such pitiful profitability that it's the cheapest land available for forestry.

        If farmers were getting a couple of hundred a lamb and got more for your wool than it cost to shear the sheep they wouldn't be selling (read the bank / financier made them sell) to the forestry companies. This isn’t a recent occurrence and previously productive, but really not that profitable, land has been more profitable, and arguably sustainable in trees since the start.

        Is NI high country sheep an industry or a lifestyle?

      • That_guy 3.1.2

        I think you'll find that I was talking about horticulture and that I never claimed any expertise in sheep & beef farming. So I think you're correcting a point I didn't make about an industry I didn't claim expertise in.

  4. Ad 4

    Most arterial and highway upgrades do this already.

    I'm struggling to find one that doesn't.

    We'll just lose Ak and Welly light rail, but Jack up the subsidies.

  5. Nic the NZer 5

    Good post.

    I think the question is why the policy shift occurred and is it significant and meaningful regarding Labour govt thinking.

    The actual economic questions around mitigation vs adaptation are if either of these activities are having real impacts. Is the country in a position where light rail and cycle ways are taking resources from the rebuild, anyway? Or are the resources available to progress both projects at once? And of course there is the question of how much these projects pay off in net emissions reductions over their lives.

    Unfortunately I get the impression that a fiscal forecast likely cancelled some projects which were otherwise environmentally desirable.

    • weka 5.1

      cycleways etc aren't simply environmentally desirable though. They're economically essential. Existentially too if we are looking at the whole picture.

      The other question that I don't see being asked is what's the economic cost of rebuild if the rebuild gets trashed by another cyclone next year? Or another 2 – 3 cyclones in the next decade?

      Rather than rebuilding, we could be transitioning. People are talking about managed retreat of individual houses, and some suburbs. Are we ready to talk about retiring some roads yet? Or changing their usage, and adjusting to that?

      Some will react to that, but I can think of a road near Oamaru that's already fallen into the sea some years ago (might be a decade or so now). People adapted. Adaptation within a transition framework means people/communities don't get left to manage that alone. We look at how to support people to build resilience.

  6. Ad 6

    When does new draft NLTP come out?

    That will tell us the priority shift in reality.

  7. Maurice 7

    Time for a new message?

    Dear establishment, realise we’ve had enough of your sh*t and no one trusts you.

    Stop digging.

  8. Jenny are we there yet 8

    Think you can adapt to the effects of global climate change.

    Is like thinking you can adapt to the effects of global nuclear war.

    Climate change adapters may think they are prepared to give up coastal areas to rising seawaters, and coastal storm surges?

    But are they prepared to retreat from our inland waterways as well?

    Lake levels are rising across the world and climate change is to blame

    Water levels at lakes in East Africa are rising alarmingly fast, flooding homes and farmland and displacing people. It is an unanticipated consequence of global warming – and it is being repeated around the globe

    By Graham Lawton 28 February 2023

    https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25734280-400-lake-levels-are-rising-across-the-world-and-climate-change-is-to-blame/?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2023-03-01-Lake-levels-ris

    We won't be spared.

    Rain could bring record lake and river levels for Waikato, major roadworks postponed ahead of storm

    Matthew Martin10:19, Feb 12 2023

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300804820/rain-could-bring-record-lake-and-river-levels-for-waikato-major-roadworks-postponed-ahead-of-storm

    How far inland will we have to go?

    Climate change adapters may think they understand climate change. But they don't.

    Climate change posing 'existential threat to human civilisation' and time is running out

    In the news on 28 February, 2022

    This article discusses the threats posed by climate change as outlined in the latest report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The article includes a quote from Swenja Surminski on the need for businesses and governments to plan with climate change in mind….

    https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/news/climate-change-posing-existential-threat-to-human-civilisation-and-time-is-running-out/

    We can build higher and higher sea walls and river stopbanks, We can retreat further and further inland. We can rebuild our infrastructure, again and again, until we can't.
    Permanently impassable roads, overloaded storm water systems, wrecked power lines, communication outages, Water treatment and reticulation systems beyond repair.

    Having to boil your drinking water over a pile of gathered twigs and leaves. Think you can adapt to that?

    We need to pull on the emergency cord slamming on the air brakes on BAU and seriously cutting our emissions right here right now is our only hope.

    • Maurice 8.1

      Seriously cutting our emissions can only leave us at the present level of CO2 and deprive us of the only present energy source readily available to us for any transition. To make any appreciable changes will force use of even MORE fossil fuels or real collapse right now – not in a hundred years.

      That is the brutally real cleft stick we are currently trapped in!

      • weka 8.1.1

        I suspect you are thinking BAU vs green BAU. We have other choices for transition that involved smaller amounts of FFs and dropping GHGs much faster. Powerdown and degrowth are both options soon on the table.

    • weka 8.2

      Jenny, please stop scaremongering. You are messing with the most important messaging, which is that we have to mitigate and adapt (both), and that they are two sides of the same coin. eg when people on the East Coast build a new house, that house should be built for both mitigation and adaptation. Do you know what that means? This is what the post is about.

      • Jenny are we there yet 8.2.1

        weka

        9 March 2023 at 9:27 am

        ….we have to mitigate and adapt

        OK. Let's talk about mitigation and adaption.

        What is an example of climate mitigation vs adaptation?

        Climate adaptation vs. mitigation: What's the difference, and why does it matter?

        The Climate Reality Project, November 7, 2019

        ….We can’t adapt our way out of this crisis — especially not with the absolutely unprecedented rate of change we’re seeing now. Truly solving the climate crisis calls for mitigation….

        ….If adaptation is pouring water out to stay afloat in the moment, sealing the leak to halt more water coming in is mitigation. In other words, it's addressing the root cause of the problem rather than dealing with its effects.

        https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/climate-adaptation-vs-mitigation-why-does-it-matter#:~:text=If%20adaptation%20is%20pouring%20water,than%20dealing%20with%20its%20effects.

        I would argue that in the wake of this climate disaster the government are doing neither mitigation nor adaption.

        .

        The government have established a cyclone recovery taskforce, and appointed Grant Robertson as Cyclone Recovery Minister to head it.

        ….A new cyclone recovery taskforce headed by Sir Brian Roche and with regional groups, modelled partly on a Queensland taskforce established after their floods, will be set up. Terms of reference for the taskforce will be made public in coming days.

        A new Cabinet committee will be established to take decisions relevant to the recovery, chaired by Grant Robertson, who will also take on the new role of Cyclone Recovery Minister, with Barbara Edmonds appointed as an associate minister….

        https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/cyclone-gabrielle-cyclone-recovery-minister-grant-robertson-announces-40000-grants-for-hard-hit-businesses/H4CQYJF765H4DH7FMRWJGT4MMQ/

        The government have not appointed a taskforce and a Minister for for Cyclone Adaption.

        Semantics you say?

        There is a difference between adaptation and recovery.

        Recovery, is clearing away the silt and slash and wreckage and pushing it into landfills.

        Recovery, is rebuilding wrecked bridges and highways,

        Recovery, is repairing all the damaged river stopbanks, in some cases building them even higher.

        Recovery is repairing all the sewers, water mains and power lines.

        Recovery is reconnecting all the communities isolated from power sewerage water and communication infrastructure.

        That is what we are doing. None of this is adaption to climate change. In fact, it is its opposite, it is ignoring climate change.

        Recovery is hoping another once in a hundred year cyclone doesn't happen next year.

        Adaption is different.

        Adaption is Red Zoning all the flood damaged areas, and rewilding them.

        Adaption is demolishing all the damaged bridges and roads and stopbanks and letting the rivers take their natural course.

        Adaption is abandoning all the flood damaged farms and orchards and townships and putting them into permanent native forest locked up in perpetuity as a carbon sink..

        Adaption to climate change is staging a managed retreat from all flood prone coastal areas and river plains.

        Recovery would make sense, if we were doing something to prevent it recurring again. But we are not.

        Instead we are postponing what meagre mitigation efforts we are making to cut our greenhouse emissions to concentrate on recovery. (Not adaption).

        https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/government-u-turns-on-transport-plan-blaming-cyclone/CSULJ23GYZH4NFRC2HD2AUANEI/

        Look Weka I apologise if you think I was messing with your message.

        But in the wake of this disaster when the government should be doubling down on adaption and mitigation the government are not doing adaption and have postponed mitigation. That's pretty messed up in my opinion, when they should be doing the opposite.

        You also accuse me of scaremongering. Dare I mention all the deaths and devastation we witnessed in Hastings and Auckland?

        In my opinion, if you are not scared of climate change you don't understand the enormity of what is happening to our world.

        What scares you most about climate change?

        BY Liz Mineo Harvard Staff Writer

        DATEApril 22, 2020

        To mark Earth Day’s 50th anniversary, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Gazette contacted experts on climate change, the environment, and sustainability to ask them about their global-warming fears. Here are their answers…..

        https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/04/harvard-experts-discuss-climate-change-fears/

  9. jay11 9

    A progress trap is the condition human societies experience when, in pursuing progress through human ingenuity, they inadvertently introduce problems that they do not have the resources or the political will to solve for fear of short-term losses in status, stability or quality of life. This prevents further progress and sometimes leads to societal collapse.

    We are in an insoluble predicament either way and the outlook is bleak. We've had our party and now the reckoning.

    • weka 9.1

      or, we can use sustainability design and degrowth to transition to different kinds of societies that take the risks of the progress trap into account. The main problems we have currently aren't technological, they're political and social, and revolve around people not seeing the other choices available.

  10. arkie 10

    The costs of inaction are manifold:

    Climate change is, unavoidably, a mental health issue. Appropriate responses to eco-anxiety – and all forms of climate-related distress – require us to see it as simultaneously political and personal.

    “The messages around ‘living green,’ are often not helpful, because they’re so individualist – they say that if you purchase the right things, there’s a solution. But if you don’t have the money for that, it feels like there is nothing you can do,” says Silvia Purdie, a counsellor who is a member of Ora Taiao, the New Zealand Climate and Health Council. The power to make sustainable decisions and respond to the climate crisis is also not distributed equally. An over-focus on individual climate action can distract from the systemic drivers of climate problems, creating a sense of hopelessness.

    https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/09-03-2023/good-climate-policy-is-good-mental-health-policy-too

    Together we can hold those with decision-making power to account:

    The results showed that nearly two-thirds of the major industrial greenhouse gas emissions (from fossil fuel use, methane leaks, and cement manufacture) originated in just 90 companies around the world, which either emitted the carbon themselves or supplied carbon ultimately released by consumers and industry. As Heede told The Guardian newspaper, you could take all the decision-makers and CEOs of these companies and fit them on a couple Greyhound buses.

    https://www.science.org/content/article/just-90-companies-are-blame-most-climate-change-carbon-accountant-says

  11. Jenny are we there yet 11

    We have had a shocking wake up call. Adaption is like pushing the snooze button. Recovery is like pulling the clock plug out of the wall.

    We need to cut our emissions, ‘Right Here, Right Now!’

    Close Huntly

    Ban coal imports and exports

    Make carbon targets enforceable

    Nationwide fare free public transport

    Enact Greenpeace plan for agriculture

    Move freight from roads to rail and coastal shipping

    What are we doing instead? Postponing even the meagre climate action we were committed to.

    adaptation

    /ˌadəpˈteɪʃn/

    noun

    '….the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment.'

    Right here, Right Now, Right here, right now.

    Fear, fear, fear, fear….

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub747pprmJ8&ab_channel=FatboySlim

    • Maurice 11.1

      Close Huntly

      And have brownouts when the renewable load fails to provide an alternative?

      Ban coal imports and exports

      Replace coal with what – right now?

      Make carbon targets enforceable

      Who makes the targets? Who enforces them? And how?

      Nationwide fare free public transport

      Who pays for that? Almost ALL powered by FF – right now. Oh – and where are all the new bus drivers – right now?

      Enact Greenpeace plan for agriculture

      Hear the farmers grinding their teeth (even more than now) and sharpening pitch forks?

      Move freight from roads to rail and coastal shipping

      Bit difficult given the run down state of both and the huge costs of upgrading both in time and cost …. mostly run by FF – right now

      [you’re banned from my posts on climate, because I don’t allow climate denial under my posts. See https://thestandard.org.nz/the-climate-fight/#comment-1930602 Stay out of this and future posts. Comments from now on will be deleted. – weka]

      • Jenny are we there yet 11.1.1

        I have never maintained that it would be easy. But I do maintain that it is necessary.

        Our society and civilisation is at war with the natural world – And we are losing.

        If you are in a war, (and we are), and we want to regain the initiative, we will have to make sacrifices, sometimes even grave sacrifices.

        Brown outs? Yes.

        Rationing? Yes

        Labour shortages? Yes

        Costly? Yes

        Beyond us? I don't believe so.

        Will these sacrifices and cost be worth it? When you consider what is at stake, – Definitely.

        And these sorts of hardships, are they endurable? I believe they are.
        .
        And I put it to you Maurice that these hardships are nothing to the hardships those in the affected zones here and our Pacific neighbours have suffered and are enduring, now. And as the climate crisis worsens, if we fail in cutting our emssions these hardships will deepen and become more generalised, more deadly and more widespread, so much so that we will regret we never made the sacrifices and endured the hardships and expense that you have acknowledged as the cost of saving lives and preventing biosphere collapse.

        Did I hear you say Maurice, that it will take blood sweat toil and tears? I think I did.

      • weka 11.1.2

        mod note.

      • Jenny are we there yet 11.1.3

        Personally speaking, I don't think Maurice is a climate denier per se. He was just outlining why this government, won't take any meaningful measures that would actually cut green house gas emissions.

        Except for the brief blip during the covid lockdowns, this government has actually overseen annual quarterly rises in our greenhouse gas emissions.

        In the worst climate disaster to hit during this administration's tenure, instead of seeing this as a reason to increase action on climate change, has used this disaster as an excuse to postpone what little mitigation it had promised.

        .https://thestandard.org.nz/triangulating-climate-change/#comment-1938375

    • Jenny are we there yet 11.2

      "I'm #1 So why try harder" Fat Boy Slim – Right Here, Right Now

  12. Maurice 12

    " … revolve around people not seeing the other choices available."

    Or rejecting them as unacceptable and unbelievable?

    • Drowsy M. Kram 12.1

      What if the ecologists had something else to do than to annoy you?
      [26 May 2022]
      The changes desired by the ecologists are sometimes assimilated to punitive ecology or to an attack on freedoms. Let’s take the problem another way: how will your freedoms be in a world with +2°C of global warming? At 50°C in France in the summer, you will be more free? Are you sure you know what +2°C on a global scale represents?

      Let’s repeat it: there is enough wealth in France for all French people to have decent housing, heating, and proper food. If this is not the case, it is because some people have made choices and are maintaining these situations.

      Some still seem to believe that climate change mitigation would be an unacceptable and/or unbelievable infringement on their freedums.

      Questioning Climate Change [28 February 2023]
      …Labour has pushed the country too far down the climate mitigation rabbit hole…

      Extraordinary.

      He doesn’t seem to understand that “climate change” is a Trojan Horse that is being used by the left to undermine the free market economy

      Quite extraordinary – expect more of this frankly bizarre denialism in election year.

      Newman and Pugh, Chris Baillie (ACT), and VFF are a ‘good’ fit. And now, a scientist:

      Climate scientists are desperate: we’re crying, begging and getting arrested [6 April 2022]
      I hate being the Cassandra. I’d rather just be with my family and do science. But I feel morally compelled to sound the alarm. By the time I switched from astrophysics into Earth science in 2012, I’d realized that facts alone were not persuading world leaders to take action. So I explored other ways to create social change, all the while becoming increasingly concerned. I joined Citizens’ Climate Lobby. I reduced my own emissions by 90% and wrote a book about how this turned out to be satisfying, fun, and connecting. I gave up flying, started a website to help encourage others, and organized colleagues to pressure the American Geophysical Union to reduce academic flying. I helped organize FridaysForFuture in the US. I co-founded a popular climate app and started the first ad agency for the Earth. I spoke at climate rallies, city council meetings, and local libraries and churches. I wrote article after article, open letter after open letter. I gave hundreds of interviews, always with authenticity, solid facts, and an openness to showing vulnerability. I’ve encouraged and supported countless climate activists and young people behind the scenes. And this was all on my personal time and at no small risk to my scientific career.

      Nothing has worked. It’s now the eleventh hour and I feel terrified for my kids, and terrified for humanity. I feel deep grief over the loss of forests and corals and diminishing biodiversity. But I’ll keep fighting as hard as I can for this Earth, no matter how bad it gets, because it can always get worse. And it will continue to get worse until we end the fossil fuel industry and the exponential quest for ever more profit at the expense of everything else. There is no way to fool physics.

      And a physicist-turned-ecologist:

      Global Warming: Why the problem is worse – and solutions simpler – than you thought [22 June 2022]
      "There is no question that the course we have been on for the last 60 years will lead to a crash," he said. "But the alternative future is the careful transition to what we call a soft landing … where we need less than one Earth to support what we do on Earth."

    • weka 12.2

      Or rejecting them as unacceptable and unbelievable?

      Lots of people are blind, some wilfully so. You feel stuck in a cleft stick, but reject options without exploring them?

  13. adam 13

    Weka,

    In the first 1min and a bit of this coffee guy I like, he does a really good job of explaining what needs to be done about the climate crisis. Simple clear and right to the point.

    The rest of the video it's about how somthing can sound Green but is not really.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8B8wDsORz4

    • weka 13.1

      Is that the right link? He doesn't really talk about climate that much in the first two minutes other than saying we need system change rather than focusing on individual actions.

      • Jenny are we there yet 13.1.1

        This is a coffee guy talking about coffee, that's his thing. And it is obviously what his video is about. His coffee loving audience have flooded his inbox querying an industry claim that coffee capsules are better for the climate, 'Allegedly' coffee capsules use less energy to make a standard cup of coffee, so create less carbon emissions, than ground coffee or instant coffee, I think many people in particular coffee drinkers are appalled at the mountain of one use disposable waste of coffee capsules. Something that the coffee capsule people are obviously trying to counter with their claim that coffee capsules are sustainable after all, or at least more sustainable than the other coffee alternatives.

        That is what this video is about. I had to get that out of the way.

        But coffee guy does briefly touch on something that I have been convinced about for a long time. That is; Individual lifestyle choices are not going to solve the climate crisis.

        Starting at 0:48 minutes:

        …The whole idea of your personal carbon footprint was invented by British Petroleum to kinda make you feel bad and take the pressure off them.

        You through better actions alone in your home in your daily life, cannot fundamentally mitigate the problem of the climate crisis. We should do better and waste less, I one hundred percent agree with that. But we need fundamental change at a much higher level to really stave off the climate crisis we are in.

        Personally I hadn't heard that BP had invented the concept of personal carbon footprint. A pretty extraordinary claim to make, and I wouldn't have minded some sort of citation.

        But I agree with his point. Because what I know for sure is that beginning in the '90s when climate change first made it into the public discourse, it was always framed as being all our personal fault, 'You are the bad person that drives a car, you consume electricity generated in Huntly, it's your fault." The purpose of this messaging is to leave us feeling guilty and disempowered. Those really responsible for climate change, even today when the crisis is hitting, are running ads on TV screaming at us to buy the biggest latest roomiest fossil fuel burning turbo charged SUV, meanwhile in the corridors of power their highly paid lobbyists are pressuring government ministers to increase spending on roading and cut spending on public transport.

        And we can see their handiwork paying off as the government does a “U-Turn” on climate mitigation at a time when they should be doubling down on it.

        https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/03/06/u-turn-on-emissions-focused-transport-plan-focus-on-cyclone-recovery/

  14. Jenny are we there yet 14

    We aren't adapting,. We aren't mitigating. We have learnt nothing from this disaster. We are spending $13 billion on recovering, so that we can get smacked again, and each time the blow will be harder until we can't recover anymore.

    • Robert Guyton 14.1

      "We have learnt nothing from this disaster."

      That cannot be true, Jenny.

      Our leaders are not stupid.

      • Jenny are we there yet 14.1.1

        That's a good point. They are not stupid and they are not corrupt. But there are just some things they just can't do, no matter how much the circumstances warrant it, And that is interrupt the flow of profits by regulating the polluters.

        Politics is all about pressure and the pressure from the oil companies the auto industry, the roading lobby and for BAU on our political class is immense. Only a mass protest movement can put a counter pressure on our MPs, to create the political allow our politicians to follow their conscience and do what their intellect tell them must be done.

        • Jenny are we there yet 14.1.1.1

          Jacinda Ardern who dared regulate business who interrupted the flow of profits to save lives during the pandemic for her efforts was brought down by an intense pressure campaign.

          Politics is pressure and no one is immune.

          Just imagine the pressure campaign that would be mounted on any politician who dared to regulate the polluters to save the biosphere.

  15. Jenny are we there yet 15

    '

    Adapt this;

    …What started as a gradual, insidious process – around half a metre of land falling into the lake yearly – has escalated. In the last two years, those nibbles have become bites, and the community has lost large chunks of the foreshore….

    ….That change has not happened over the whole 50 years; Much of it has happened in a year or two. After back-to-back storms, the foreshore resembles a war zone; toppled trees cover what used to be beaches, and dirty rocks and stones litter the grass.

    While surveying the foreshore, Salmon comes across a large beech tree that has tumbled into the water. Its branches, she says, used to glow with light from sinking sunsets; Now it lies gnarled and broken under a grey sky.

    “It sort of epitomises the problem,” she says.

    …..The second reason to manage the lake level is to control Waikato River's flow. Several communities along the river are vulnerable to flooding, which can be mitigated by holding back water in the lake….

    ….“We manage Lake Taupō’s storage to ensure that we can supply renewable electricity for Kiwis,” says Phil Gibson, Mercury’s general manager of portfolio.

    “The other role the hydro system plays is to protect communities from the extreme effects of droughts and flooding.

    “It’s a whole-of-catchment thing, and it is turning up – for residents in parts of Lake Taupō – with erosion effects.”

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300829857/the-idyllic-community-being-eaten-away-by-the-electricity-market

    And this is not a problem just related to this country but a world wide phenomenon, resulting from, you guessed it climate change. (a factor that got ignored in the Stuff report about rising Lake Taupa water levels).

    Lake levels are rising across the world and climate change is to blame

    Water levels at lakes in East Africa are rising alarmingly fast, flooding homes and farmland and displacing people. It is an unanticipated consequence of global warming – and it is being repeated around the globe

    By Graham Lawton 28 February 2023

    https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25734280-400-lake-levels-are-rising-across-the-world-and-climate-change-is-to-blame/?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2023-03-01-Lake-levels-ris

    Right here, right now.

    How can the Prime MInister justify canceling any climate mitigation measures?

    When he should be adding more climate change mitigation measures, how can the Prime Minister make vague promises about putting the money from the cancelled programs into some better programs at some unspecified time and date?

    .https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-24-03-2023/#comment-1940559

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  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    14 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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