Dewy Sacayan: NZ just did what to our future children?

Prior to attending the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Peru, I thought that I was going to have an easy time representing a country that is known to be clean and green. I was wrong.

Contrary to popular belief and perceptions, New Zealand is one of the worst greenhouse gas emitters and also one of the countries who heartbreakingly commits less than its capability. So, we and our future children can say hello to extreme weather and more droughts, all thanks to the New Zealand government.

Like high school cliché groups wherein you become cool if you’re part of the cliques, New Zealand is part of the Umbrella Group, a collective of rich countries who give their best in doing the least. New Zealand portrays that it is doing its fair share when, in fact, its emissions have increased by 25% and its contributions to the Green Climate Fund are two times less than Columbia – a third world country. Awkward.

Despite all of these disappointments, civil societies continue to give the government grief. For example, the Coal Action Network Aotearoa put a strong demonstration where they asked the minister to stop throwing their heads in the sand and start looking at the reality of climate change.

Photo from Coal Action Network Aotearoa by Peter Rees

 Another more direct instance where civil society gave them grief was when New Zealand Youth Delegation delegate, Maddie Little, gave her condolences to Climate Change and Economic Minister Tim Grosser for his loss of ambition during a meeting inside COP20. Complete with a bouquet of flowers and a consolidated sheet of what the government can and should do to alleviate climate change, the confrontation was truly a success.

Photo from New Zealand Youth Delegation by Chris Bean

It is about time that people realise that we live in a world where climate change is no longer questioned scientifically. We all know how the Earth contains the heat that is produced by the sun as well as greenhouse gases that are emitted by cars, animals and burning fossil fuels for energy. These greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere and traps most of the heat making our climate warmer. In fact, Stanford University’s Stanford Woods Institute for Environment senior fellows Noah Diffenbaugh and Chris Field found that climate change is occurring 10 times faster.No wonder many of our neighbouring small island states are suffering from sea level rise, drought and extreme heat. All of these exacerbate their territories from sinking.

What would happen to our neighbours when they lose their land you might ask?  

 If the New Zealand government fail to implement our target emissions, we will inevitably accommodate citizens from our neighbouring countries as environmental refugees. I am not saying that taking in refugees is bad in fact I advocate the opposite. As an immigrant, I think that helping those in need and providing refugees a better and more secure future is vital. However, I feel more for those people who will lose their land, their connection with their land, their families and possibly lose their cultural structure and practices.

Thus, the New Zealand government who prides itself as the leader of small states upon winning a seat in the UNSC, would need to do more in committing and implementing nationally determined target emissions as well as making decisions that prioritises the environment over economic gain.

Also, our government should include the youth in the decision making process as we are essential the stakeholders of the future. One way it could do this is by allowing youths to join the official New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade delegation to United Nations conferences such as the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties as liaisons or advisers.

More importantly, the government should listen to the policy cries and asks of civil societies. Since 2015 is the last year countries will negotiate in the UNFCCC, civil societies are more fired up to put pressure on the government to make policies that align with what future generations need – an Earth that is below 2 C. As you read this, many campaigns from national climate action network such as Generation Zero are brewing up. Similarly, many international climate working groups such as Fast for the Climate are also bringing together people from different corners of the world to engage in actions that will open the eyes of governments and ordinary people alike to the harsh and devastating realities of climate change in countries that have been affected and continue to suffer.  

This is the year when 190 countries will draft and sign a climate agreement which will determine whether we can look forward to a future with less extreme weather conditions. Will countries actually sign this agreement? I don’t know 

But what I do know is that this 2015 agreement is not the sole answer to the climate issue. What I also know is that international process is very slow because little agreement happen due to the fact that countries are out there to protect their national interests. So what I hope is for communities and individuals give their share in stopping climate change. I hope that we can live a more eco-friendly life so we and our children can have a future on Earth.

Renée Annan: Copenhagen broke my heart

It's a tragic love story, me and Copenhagen. We fell in love in the spring of 2009 - romantic to start with. I was 18, had a relatively recent understanding of the enormity that Climate Change is and what it means for us, and I was so, so hopeful.

I trusted world leaders to make strong commitments to reducing emissions, because they must know what I know, and we don't have time to mess around. It was a whirlwind fling, I gave it my all but love is blind and in the end it was definitely a disproportionate amount of effort on my behalf.

Greenpeace got a call saying "There's hippies in Britomart!!! Are they yours?" So for my love I even agreed to the addition of shoes and an official 'Sign On' teeshirt, over my bare feet and flowing dresses. I was walking around the streets of Auckland telling people about the Copenhagen conference as a volunteer for the Sign On campaign asking world leaders to sign on to 40% emissions reductions before 2020.

When it all fell apart I didn't cope well with the break up. To me what was the future of the planet and it's incredible web of life, had been shunned in the face of corporate interests. I was devastated and heartbroken, sick in my stomach, rejected, unsure of myself and totally disillusioned. I had been in love with the hope that the Copenhagen Conference (Dec, 2009) was a real solution to what was so scary to think about, and it was my only refuge from overwhelm.

And then I was angry. Seeing the impacts of extreme weather patterns over the last few years, the ongoing facilitation of big oil and coal in NZ, and countless other assaults on our environment, I have struggled with feelings of hopelessness as an activist and as a human being.

Since then I have found new refuges. I have experienced and seen so much magic and positivity. Community gardens, the Pinnacles in Thames, sunsets over the Hauraki Gulf, political leaders actually showing leadership (obviously not most but some!), local pest control initiatives being incredibly successful, waste reduction initiatives across the country, incredible dedication from hapu and groups challenging deep sea oil.

There are more fish in the sea. COP and I are still friends, I want leaders to take meaningful action on Climate Change, I want them to Sign On. But it is not the silver bullet (even though frustratingly it could be), and there are lots of other ways to Sign On to a cleaner, greener future and a healthier relationship with the planet. So get into supporting action at COP and get into Climate Action in your communities. :)