Kia ora Friend --
Though the year is still new, the realm of climate and health have remained eventful. Severe storms and flooding battering Te Ika a Māui continue to be a solemn expression of the critical importance of climate action to protect planetary and human wellbeing. With lives and homes lost, the immediate stress must be on support and recovery for those affected, but we – and our politicians – need to maintain a clear awareness that without a just, equitable and healthy transition to a climate-friendly and resilient Aotearoa, these events will become overwhelmingly frequent.
With Te Rā o Waitangi recently commemorated, we get an opportunity to reflect on the importance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a living document in Aotearoa, and to acknowledge the repeated violations of it by the Crown, and to use this as motivation to make it a real, central part of our climate response. Waitangi was an apt time to complete a submission on the reforms of Resource Management in Aotearoa. While it fails to enact Te Tiriti in its current form, there is still momentous opportunity to rehabilitate ecosystems through genuine co-governance.
With numerous productive opportunities on the 2023 horizon, OraTaiao is particularly looking forward to this years’ biennial Sustainable Healthcare and Climate Health Conference, to be held from July 5-6 in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. We will also be restarting our regular Climate Kōrero Zooms on March 16, with a report back from representatives who attended COP27. As discussed below, Climate Change in Aotearoa in 2023 is going to be even more political than usual. This is the time of year when councils consult on their annual budgets – consider making a submission, or even better, an in-person deposition, to your local council to ask for healthy climate action.
Ngā mihi nui
Dermot and Summer,
Co-convenors, OraTaiao: NZ Climate & Health Council
Ora Taiao - February 2023 Newsletter (0.48MB)
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