Mōrena, and happy Tuesday! Welcome to our new followers from The Weekend (a roundup of news by The Spinoff - thank you for the mention!) 👋
Coming into March (already!) we’re in the season of budgets and draft plans. Local councils and the central government are grappling with how to build back from Cyclone Gabrielle. We talk about “saving up for a rainy day”. This is the rainy day – we need to spend, not just on quick fixes, but on long lasting high quality solutions. There are multiple options for funding, including a windfall tax on banks and large corporations (that recently increased profits). However, we’re not yet seeing bold climate spending plans in the proposed budgets.
It’s not just money we need to invest; it’s political risk and the courage from our representatives to put their name on the line for bold policies. This doesn’t have to be a risky move for them. As the general public, we can let our reps know that they have many supporters backing them to take these leaps, and that urgent climate action isn’t radical; it’s just common sense.
How can we support our local representatives to move the needle on climate? Here’s one way - the Global Climate Strike is this Friday! Join the strike in your local town/city and show politicians we think urgent climate action is the only sensible way forward.
What can you do today?
The most-clicked link from last week’s issue was the list of the new paid & volunteer roles in climate! 💪🏾
🐝 If you have 5 minutes: Throw some shade on a hot planet
Christchurch City Council is looking at how the city might increase its tree coverage, which helps cool temperatures, reduces erosion, and has known benefits for mental and physical health.
Action, due Monday 6 March: Have your say on the Ōtautahi-Christchurch Draft Urban Forest Plan 2023
🐇 If you have 15 minutes: High five for higher rises
Higher density housing is a great way to address both our housing crisis and the transport emissions from people living far away from amenities. Despite being legally required by the central government to enable more medium- and high-density housing, Christchurch Council have again voted against this.
Action: Use this email template from GenZero to advocate for more medium- and high-density housing in Christchurch.
💃🏽 If you have 30 minutes or more: Keep calm and carry on (funding emissions reductions)
Last year, Auckland mayor Wayne Brown proposed massive budget cuts to stormwater management, public transport, environmental programmes, and a host of other critical community services. He’s since acknowledged the cost of storm response, but the proposed budget still cuts maintenance & improvements to our natural environment and water quality to just one third of what it was. Cutting funding for community-based climate action and low-emissions infrastructure like public transport is not an option during a climate crisis.
Action from 12pm today: Have your say on Auckland Council’s Annual Budget 2023/2024. Alternatively, sign Chloë Swarbrick’s petition.Environment Canterbury’s Draft Annual Plan 2023/24 is up for public feedback. We’re glad that the 2-year trial of reduced public transport fares is going ahead. However, we noticed the focus seems to be very much on maintaining, rather than increasing, the city’s emission reduction efforts over the next 2-10 years. We need to rapidly ramp up climate policies, not carry on with business as usual.
Action by 11:59pm Mon 3 April: Give feedback on Canterbury’s strategy for climate action, public transport, water & landThe Workshop is an epic organisation that has developed valuable resources around how to have conversations about climate change (we refer to this short guide often)! They have some trainings coming up on climate communication and collective action.
Action: Express your interest in attending a climate workshop to training@theworkshop.co.nz
Wins!
We’ve previously shared a how-to guide for speaking at your local council. Recently, Clare, a new speaker, did her first speech in the Far North! She has managed to stay in touch with the council which will be a great step in establishing a working relationship with them. If you’re interested in how you could do the same, check out the link above.
That’s all for today, folks 👋🏽 Thanks for taking action. Enjoy this comic by The Side Eye on “a climate change reality check”.
See you next week,
Dhanya, Emily, and Jenny from the Climate Club