Issue #54: Te Tiriti and climate action

On how climate justice and Indigenous-led solutions go hand in hand

Mōrena, and happy Tuesday! We hope you all had a relaxing and reflective long Waitangi weekend.

Last Saturday, Climate Club had our strategy day, where we talked through our priorities and goals for the year. In 2023, we’re excited to build on this newsletter and to experiment with other ways that we can lower the barrier to impactful climate action.

The only photo we took all day 🥲 (From left) Jenny, Dhanya, and Emily having a little lunch break during our Climate Club strategy day! 

One of the outcomes of our strategy day was an intention for Climate Club to better honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This means making our support of tino rangatiratanga (Māori sovereignty, i.e. the fact that Māori never agreed to their country being ruled by a foreign power) more explicit going forward, particularly in our actions. This is because climate action can not be separated from climate justice.

Climate justice is: 

• The acknowledgement that the countries and people who have historically contributed more to the climate crisis are not the people who will be most impacted by climate change.

• Advocacy for climate solutions that take this unfairness into account, and creates equal outcomes for everyone regardless of race, gender, class, ability, or any other demographic.

(That’s our go at a definition anyway - read more about climate justice here, here, here, and here)

In New Zealand, climate justice involves giving power to climate solutions from tangata whenua. This gives us ways to fight climate change in a way that is truly transformative and equitable, outside of the capitalist, individualistic restrictions that we often find ourselves in. For more on this, see this guest post from The Spinoff. 

We at Climate Club have a lot to learn about what it means to honour Te Tiriti in our day to day, but we’re keen to start.

What can you do today?

The most-clicked link from last week’s issue was 350’s petition to kick fossil fuel lobbyists out of EU politics. Nice work taking action, team!

🐝 If you have 5 minutes: Cease the unethical lease

• This weekend the Green Party called on the government to end “perpetual leases”. We support this policy as it’s an outdated and unfair way that the Crown has taken land from Māori, which has been directly linked to poverty. Given that climate change will only exacerbate these kinds of inequalities, we need to urgently start righting these wrongs for true climate justice to be realised.
  Action: Sign the petition to end perpetual lease on Māori land

🐇 If you have 15 minutes: No more platitudes, give them attitude

• Pōneke/Wellington: The Greater Regional Wellington Council is gathering public opinions toward sustainable modes of transport and reducing emissions. Have your say on whether you think their targets are ambitious enough!

  Action: Take the transport survey

💃🏽 If you have 30 minutes or more: Strike while the planet is hot

• The next School Strike for Climate is coming up this March, and they’re looking for people to lead strikes across Aotearoa! If you’re part of a workplace, school, environmental group, or just keen to get involved, this is a great chance for you and your friends to organise a strike in your local area.
  Action: Have a read of School Strike for Climate’s post, and contact them if you are interested 

• Tauranga: This Saturday, there is a Youth Climate Forum for 13-24 year olds to contribute directly to Tauranga’s first climate action plan.
  Action: Register for this 1-day forum welcoming Tauranga rangatahi of all backgrounds

• Calling Pacific children and families! Ahead of the 2023 Pacific Early Childhood Development Forum, the Pacific Climate Warriors want to hear what you love about your island home.
  Action: Make a video/picture/drawing/poem/song and submit it via Instagram with the hashtags #MyIslandHome and #2023ECDForum

In case you missed it!

• Last week, we shared a guest blog post about how being present at public local council meetings helped shift the views of representatives in the Queenstown Lakes district towards stronger climate policy. They’re always welcoming new volunteers to scale up this method of keeping the pressure on local politicians, so have a read and get involved!

• Tauranga, tonight 5:30pm: The Urbanerds meetups connect people in communities who care about passenger rail and sustainable transport, and they’re starting a branch in Tauranga!
  Action: Join the meetup hosted by the campaigners of ‘Save Our Trains & The Future is Rail

• Want more events and actions? Carbon News has a fantastic calendar of climate-related events, consultations, and petitions that they keep up to date.

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That’s all for today, folks 👋🏽 Thanks for taking action. Enjoy this article on climate change through a Māori lens which interviews Dr Daniel Hikuroa (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato-Tainui, Pākehā).

See you next week, 

Dhanya, Emily, and Jenny from the Climate Club