EBCRN is focussed on the need to act now to both mitigate the causes of accelerating climate change as well as prepare for the impact on our community. You can find out more about Eastbourne and the Network here.

If you have climate related events, resources, requests, suggestions or any other information you would like to share please send it to us.

Some of the events listed here (marked G) come via the excellent Glean Report - Science and knowledge events in New Zealand. Free to subscribe.

Glean Report

Climate policy in a cost-of-living crisis. A lecture by Alan Brent and Catherine Iorns *IN PERSON or ONLINE*

Fri 22 September 12:00 - 13:00 Lecture Theatre One (GBLT1), Old Government Buildings, VUW More information Add To Calendar

Download ICS Google Calendar iCalendar Office 365 Outlook Live

How well does the law respond to environmental problems? A lecture by Nicola Wheen *ONLINE*

Tue 26 September 17:30 - 19:00 More information Add To Calendar

Actionstation.org.nz

The market won’t save us: Climate action for public good, not private profit.

The catastrophic outcomes of climate change, like the horrific impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle, have shown how important resilient and sustainable infrastructure is to our health and wellbeing. Infrastructure, like the trains we catch and the pipes that provide clean water to our taps, are public necessities that we all depend on to live good lives.

Only yesterday in the election debate, we heard both the government and the opposition focus their climate policies on market-led approaches that fail our communities. This year, Labour announced a $2 billion fund of private investment renewables, collaborating with BlackRock - a company that also owns more than two billion thermal coal reserves¹. National and ACT’s energy policies rely on corporate investment in emissions-cutting technology.

However, we’re not convinced the market can deliver a speedy and just transition to a low-carbon Aotearoa. We know that asset exploiters like BlackRock are driven by profits and short-term thinking, not public good.

Instead of begging for private investment, the government should be taxing the big polluters making windfall profits - and using this to provide upfront capital for community and kaupapa Māori energy projects who are already leading the way across Aotearoa². We need publicly-owned and publicly-funded infrastructure projects, for public good.

This is why we’re running a webinar called “The market won’t save us: Climate action for public good, not private profit.” at 7pm, Wednesday the 27th September.

Register now

News

Country’s largest insurer IAG begins insurance ‘retreat’ from flood-prone homes 

The country’s largest insurer IAG will not issue new insurance policies on flood-prone and landslip-threatened homes categorised as either 2 or 3 after the Auckland Anniversary weekend flooding in January, and Cyclone Gabrielle in February.

Country’s largest insurer IAG begins insurance ‘retreat’ from flood-prone homes 

One broker described it as the beginning of a country-wide “insurance retreat” which would leave owners of flood and landslip-prone homes struggling to sell them...

The Hutt Zone

John MacDonald's hosted program The Hutt Zone on Wellington Access Radio is broadcasting Mike Joy's presentation on Degrowth as a mini-series of episodes. 

Mike's talk starts at 36:00 in episode 14-09-2023

How to communicate climate change

Climate change is discussed every day, but how do we keep people interested in that discussion? Nikki Wright of Wright Communications works with clients like Toyota and Urgent Couriers in the sustainability space, and David Robertson runs Hardwired, a consultancy which deploys behavioural psychology to nudge consumers toward the desired behaviour. They joined The Fold with Duncan Greive to discuss the art of keeping audiences engaged with these big, gnarly issues.

Listen to The Fold episode now.

Consultation

Inquiry into climate adaptation

Public submissions are now being called for the Environment Committee's Inquiry into climate adaptation. 

For the purpose of its inquiry, the committee is particularly interested in:

•  The current approach to community-led retreat and adaptation funding, its strengths, risks and costs
•  Lessons learned from severe weather events and natural disasters in Aotearoa New Zealand for community-led retreat and funding climate adaptation
•  Effective mechanisms for community-led decision making
•  The role of the private sector in managing climate risk
•  Potential institutional arrangements, including roles and responsibilities of central and local government agencies, iwi and hapu
•  Māori participation, Crown obligations, and how to best give effect to the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi, and integrate matauranga Māori and te ao Māori across the adaptation system
•  Alignment and integration with existing legislation and regulatory framework, including the reformed resource management system and any changes needed to regulatory powers and potential economic or other incentives needed to support adaptation actions (both before and after extreme events)
•  Funding sources, access to them and principles and criteria for cost sharing
•  Targets or indicators for assessing progress to more resilient communities and infrastructure.

The closing date for submissions is Wednesday, 01 November 2023. Have your say on the Inquiry into climate adaptation.

Note: we create this newsletter "on the fly" as information and events come to our attention. Sometimes short notice of event dates mean the event passes before we send this out, so each email may be triggered but an upcoming event rather than a reasonable interval since the last release. Please feel free to give feedback on content and frequency of news, and send through items you might feel are of interest to the group.

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