Climate leadership needed from our politicians

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Re: Leader who held world’s attention, April 6 editorial.

Thanks editor.

In her valedictory speech Jacinda Ardern urged everyone to, “please, take the politics out of climate change”. Indeed, we have lost too much time because rather than seeing it as a global problem many see us as separate . . . as on this page, we often see politically minded views of individuals in fear of our country doing more than its fair share.

But the truth is human activity was responsible for a record 36.8bn tonnes of the planet-warming gas expelled into the atmosphere last year, mainly from burning oil, gas and coal — and 50 percent of Aotearoa/NZ’s emissions were from agriculture.

At present there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than at any time in the past 4 million years.

What’s worse, we have already locked in significant warming due to our historical emissions — so enacting policies today to cut greenhouse gas emissions will not have any discernible impact on global warming for decades to come. This makes it a tough sell to get politicians to act, especially in our very short-term election cycles.

Unlike other policies, climate change is cumulative. The longer we wait to address it, the bigger the problem it becomes and the harder it gets to solve, fuelling a feedback loop that makes solutions ever more difficult. Whereas on most other issues, the direct impacts would be noticed almost immediately.

The bottom line is that we are the first generation of humans to start paying the price for a warmer world, and we are also the first to face costs as we try to address it. We’re paying now and later.

The negative impacts of climate change are mounting much faster than scientists predicted less than a decade ago.

Taking politics out of climate change is essential.

It is election year. Aotearoa/New Zealand has once before proved she can lead the way. In 1985 both major political parties agreed to a nuclear-free policy after French govt agents bombed the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour. Maybe, just maybe, the same leadership can happen with a wake-up call for climate change commitment.

Bob Hughes