Mōrena, and Mānawatia a Matariki!
As we celebrate the Māori New Year with the appearance of Matariki, we are delighted to take this opportunity to pause, reflect, and express gratitude for all the taonga of Aotearoa. This is a special time to come together, as Professor Rangi Mātāmua shares:
One thing I do know is that, for one day a year, we stop our entire nation to celebrate mātauranga Māori and acknowledge the rising of Matariki. We acknowledge a particular lunar month and a particular lunar phase, we thank our environment, we remember our dead, and we take time to reconnect with each other.
In the first year of Matariki as a national holiday, 51 percent of us did something to celebrate. Last year, it was 60 percent of the entire population, a number far bigger than the Māori population. That tells me Matariki strikes a chord. Reconnecting to our world and our environment is something that’s important to many, many people.
In the spirit of reflection, let’s look back on how far we have come over the past year:
Over 27,000 people submitted on the Fast Track Bill
Over 20,000 people marched in the March for Nature
Climate Club ran climate workshops with almost 1000 participants from all ages, backgrounds and many regions (see below for upcoming workshops!)
And a huge thank you to those of you who got their submissions in on Te Mana o te Wai (The Freshwater Bill) before last Sunday!
So on to the third part of Matariki: planning for the year ahead with a vision of a future full of prosperity. Let’s move towards it today by taking some of the following actions:
What can we do today?
The most-clicked link from last week’s issue was Oxfam’s template email to the PM on why we must not drill for new oil.
🐝 5 minutes: Bottle up our emissions
98% of single-use plastics are made from fossil fuels, accounting for 12% of global oil consumption. Fossil fuel companies profit from producing these plastics; the top 7 plastic producing companies in the world are all fossil fuel companies. Emissions aside, the waste and health impacts of plastic are devastating.
Action: Join the 130,000 New Zealanders who have signed the petition to ban unnecessary single-use plastic bottles here
🐇 15 minutes: Coal is so last century
If new mines are opened, coal will be one of the main resources that the government plans to permit extraction of. This locks us into 30+ years of huge open pit mines, all for a rapidly dying industry, when we need to be decarbonising our economy and exports. At a time when every scientist and policy expert clearly supporting the fact that we can have no new fossil fuel extraction to stay at a safe climate temperature, this is a lose-lose situation economically & environmentally.
Action: Oppose the Draft Minerals Strategy with this quick submit guide.
Bonus action: Have a read of the short consultation document and write your own submission.
💃🏽 30+ minutes: Jump aboard the climate train!
Know any young people wanting to take more climate action? The Youth Climate Action: Share this link with friends & whānau who could attend the Climate Action Conference. We’ll see you there!
Interested in the future of our transport systems? Love trains and buses? All Aboard is a new organisation with a mission to ensure that Aotearoa’s transport plan aligns with our emissions goals. They’re looking for volunteers to kick-start this new kaupapa.
Action: Sign up to be a volunteer contributor
Upcoming Events
Climate Club runs in-person climate workshops with communities, workplaces, boards, and schools. They are fun, interactive workshops for all ages, based on the international Climate Fresk science-based model with trained facilitators. Learn more about our workshops on our website. Thanks to Auckland Council for the funding for these two free community workshops:
Central Auckland, free event: 4pm - 7pm, Monday 8 July, at Remuera Golf Club, sign up here
East Auckland, free event: 5:30pm - 8:30pm, Friday 26 July, at Bucklands Beach Yacht Club, sign up here
Wins!
One Austrian minister overrode the chancellor of Austria to enable the EU’s Nature Restoration Law to pass. This means member states must restore at least 20% of land and sea habitat from “poor” to “good” condition 2030, increasing to 60% by 2040 and 90% by 2050. This would be measured in part by grassland butterfly and farmland bird populations.
The Wellington Region set out their new low-carbon vision for the transport sector last week.
A regional court in China ruled in favour of climate activists in a lawsuit against a local coal power plant. This marks a significant step in climate litigation in China against polluters and greenwashing. Here’s a deep dive into the case and its context, in a country where power dynamics can be very different.
That’s all for today, folks 👋🏽 Thanks for taking action. Enjoy this kaikōhau going into the new year.
See you next week,
Lou & the Climate Club team
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