Cathrine Dyer and Bernard Hickey detail the latest climate news, including accusations of policy incoherency by the new Government alongside evidence of rapidly accelerating ocean surface temperatures
This Government needs to wake up to what is actually happening around them in the environment. Stop, for a moment, thinking about what they need to do about being re-elected in 2 years time, and instead think about what people who know (more than they do) about what the next 10 and 20 years are likely to be like. Think about the world they are creating for their grandchildren. We cannot go back to “business as usual”. It just will not happen that way again. If we want to avoid being like the lemmings falling off the cliff the wealthy (and even the rich!) are going to have to dramatically change their lifestyles and really put their noses to the grindstone. Farmers are just not that special because they create luxury foods “to feed a hungry world”. They too will have to change dramatically. Are we humans actually smart enough and wise enough and tough enough to turn this train around?
It is bewildering that on one hand the govt talks austerity and wasteful spending (cutting billions from climate funds to provide a percentage of tax cuts) and then seems to be pandering to the USA for an increase in govt spending for defence (2% of GDP) without getting any economic benefit out of it with lke for like spending on exports to USA... In the meantime if we actaully looked at economic growth and areas for spending for ROI we'd consider technology as a growth sector. Especially cleantech which has the highest growth in investment globally. what happened to spending +2% of our GDP on R&D and Innovation? I don't mean buying other countries innovation off the shelf but investing in our own globally desirable technologies. Is Defence spend going to grow the economy?
It's all out of whack and smells of pressure from the US without any tangible benefit to our need for economic growth. Also noting MFAT deals in the climate agenda with the US and California but what use is a cleantech trade deal if we have nothing to trade???
Interested to hear Catherine talking about Cyclone Gabrielle, the increased likelihood of repeat weather events etc at 16 minutes .... when resiliency investment is modelled for costs/benefits typically the future is discounted by a prescribed discount rate which renders anything 20-30 years or further out of much less concern to the spreadsheet. This assumes that future generations will be that much better off - seems a big assumption and I always ask myself where all this wealth is appearing. The answer will be in quality roads and sports arenas but not too much else - oh then I remember that Neil Young already told us
We currently have a government, focussed on the wrong things, refusing to face the realities and consequences of future climate disruptions to the environment and to society. A nation is a wide and diverse whanau, all dependent in some way on our fellow citizens, the land, and its resources, and a government that takes cares for and responsibility for it all. This one falls well short.
This Government needs to wake up to what is actually happening around them in the environment. Stop, for a moment, thinking about what they need to do about being re-elected in 2 years time, and instead think about what people who know (more than they do) about what the next 10 and 20 years are likely to be like. Think about the world they are creating for their grandchildren. We cannot go back to “business as usual”. It just will not happen that way again. If we want to avoid being like the lemmings falling off the cliff the wealthy (and even the rich!) are going to have to dramatically change their lifestyles and really put their noses to the grindstone. Farmers are just not that special because they create luxury foods “to feed a hungry world”. They too will have to change dramatically. Are we humans actually smart enough and wise enough and tough enough to turn this train around?
Nigel what more could I say? Thank you!
The NZ Initiative (Axis Network operator) has always been very keen on the ETS - that should make citizens very suspicious of its value/usefulness
It is bewildering that on one hand the govt talks austerity and wasteful spending (cutting billions from climate funds to provide a percentage of tax cuts) and then seems to be pandering to the USA for an increase in govt spending for defence (2% of GDP) without getting any economic benefit out of it with lke for like spending on exports to USA... In the meantime if we actaully looked at economic growth and areas for spending for ROI we'd consider technology as a growth sector. Especially cleantech which has the highest growth in investment globally. what happened to spending +2% of our GDP on R&D and Innovation? I don't mean buying other countries innovation off the shelf but investing in our own globally desirable technologies. Is Defence spend going to grow the economy?
It's all out of whack and smells of pressure from the US without any tangible benefit to our need for economic growth. Also noting MFAT deals in the climate agenda with the US and California but what use is a cleantech trade deal if we have nothing to trade???
Very important to draw attention to the vital stuff we are NOT doing at present!!
Interested to hear Catherine talking about Cyclone Gabrielle, the increased likelihood of repeat weather events etc at 16 minutes .... when resiliency investment is modelled for costs/benefits typically the future is discounted by a prescribed discount rate which renders anything 20-30 years or further out of much less concern to the spreadsheet. This assumes that future generations will be that much better off - seems a big assumption and I always ask myself where all this wealth is appearing. The answer will be in quality roads and sports arenas but not too much else - oh then I remember that Neil Young already told us
We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man
We got a kinder, gentler machine gun hand
We got department stores and toilet paper
Got Styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer
Got a man of the people, says keep hope alive
Got fuel to burn, got roads to drive
Keep on rockin' in the free world
Scary, isn’t it!!
We currently have a government, focussed on the wrong things, refusing to face the realities and consequences of future climate disruptions to the environment and to society. A nation is a wide and diverse whanau, all dependent in some way on our fellow citizens, the land, and its resources, and a government that takes cares for and responsibility for it all. This one falls well short.
Yes indeed!!