Some of our leading authorities on climate change have been named as members of a new state watchdog to help guide governments through a warming future.
Earlier this year, it was announced that former Reserve Bank chairman and University of Canterbury vice-chancellor Dr Rod Carr would lead the new Climate Change Commission, with Ngāi Tahu kaiwhakahaere (director) Lisa Tumahai serving as deputy.
Joining them on the commission is arguably New Zealand's most visible climate scientist, Professor James Renwick; his Victoria University colleague, and a noted expert in climate adaptation, Dr Judy Lawrence; and Catherine Leining, a top economist on climate policy and emissions pricing systems with Wellington's Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
The two other members are Dr Harry Clark, director of the Palmerston North-based New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, and Professor Nicola Shadbolt, a farmer, company director and academic at Massey University.
The independent commission, which takes over from the Interim Climate Change Committee, is tasked with monitoring and reviewing governments' progress towards emissions reduction and adaptation goals.
