Photo credit: Bob Zuur
Organised by Dr Catherine Knight with partners Victoria University of Wellington, The Lentil Intervention, and Schikedanz, the one-day event aimed to increase awareness and action.
For me, it was a reminder of some of the key elements that are woven into our work at SBN, combined with some eye-opening lessons.
Here are some of my key takeaways.
Note: The title of each briefing links to a video recording of the presentation. I recommend viewing to learn more.
The polycrisis: opening address by Dr Mike Joy
We can’t buy our way out of an ecological overshoot – that’s when we take more from nature and produce more waste than the planet can renew or absorb in a year.
Most of our environmental and social challenges can't be solved simply by shifting away from fossil fuels. We have to move beyond “carbon tunnel vision” and recognise the many crises facing us, including the seven planetary boundaries that have been breached.
Nature-based solutions are necessary. But they can’t mitigate the carbon emissions. However, they can begin to address the harm done by deforestation in the past.
To solve our crises, we must cut consumption.
How climate change will shape our future: Prof James Renwick
Half of all carbon emissions since 1750 happened in the last 35 years.
Current policies put us on track for 3 degrees of warming. That’s enough to devastate our economy, infrastructure and communities.
To stop global warming, we must stop burning fossil fuels and get to zero gross emissions. We need a 10% reduction in emissions year-on-year from now.
We have known what is needed for decades. There is money and power tied up in preventing the transition away from fossil fuels. But we are the ones emitting. We can stop.
White supremacy and the polycrisis: Dr Mahina-a-Rangi Baker
White supremacy, the othering of some people for those who are white to gain wealth and power, has driven the polycrisis. The way of thinking used to justify domination of certain groups of people is the same as that used to justify domination of nature.
The extraction and accumulation of wealth relies on dehumanising people, because the costs must be borne by someone.
In Aotearoa New ZealandMāori disproportionately bear the negative impacts of the polycrisis, and the burden of fighting against racism and colonialism.
To break this pattern and address the polycrisis, we must make no one disposable. The fight against white supremacy is a fight to save humankind. It needs all of us, including pākeha. Everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand should engage with Matike Mai, an independent working group of Māori leaders, as the basis for constitutional reform.
Energy realities: Prof Robert McLachlan
Ever-increasing global energy use feeds the polycrisis.
Global use has not yet peaked for any fossil fuel. Energy demand has kept increasing as renewable generation grows.
Transport must be a key focus to shift NZ away from fossil fuels
We need to phase out old machines powered by fossil fuels.
Flying is the most energy-intensive thing we do. Aviation needs stronger environmental regulation instead of the light-touch treatment it currently gets, and we need to reduce demand for flights.
Learn how to switch to electric vehicles, facilities and equipment on our Electrify Business page.
Unleashing public finance: Dr Ganesh Ahirao & Morgan Edwards
The government is not like a household.
It can borrow without collateral, refinance that borrowing indefinitely, and borrow at more favourable interest rates than a household or business.
It can create money through the Crown Settlement Account which can go negative to meet payment obligations.
If our earth systems, our infrastructure, and our people and communities are in good health and can support the activities the government is trying to fund - from GP visits to transport - then spending does not drive inflation or create problems for future generations.
Trade in an unstable future: Hillmare Schulze
We have to stop judging trade arrangements based on efficiency in an imagined stable world, and instead plan for resilience in a volatile one.
Trade does more than move goods, it transfers shocks. Aotearoa New Zealand’s trade dependencies expose us to global geopolitics and price changes.
NZ needs more innovation and more processing capacity domestically. It needs to support regional and community stability.
Learn more about innovation in Aotearoa New Zealand and the Next list of Sustainable Business Awards finalists.
An uninsurable future: Prof Jonathan Boston
A 3-degree warming world would be uninsurable.
Leaving insurance to market forces means that as climate impacts intensify, there’ll be less insurance, more inequitable costs, worse damage, more suffering and less societal resilience.
There is an alternative. If we take a social model, like expanding the remit of the Natural Hazards Commission, and invest in proactive resilience and relocation, insurance can continue as a shock absorber.
This all depends on urgent climate action.
National food security: Dr Catherine Knight
NZ produces a surplus of food but not everything needed to feed its people well.
If there is global disruption, we could be without key staples, like cereals, nuts and legumes.
Agriculture is built on cruelty to animals. Our current food systems are highly centralised, an approach that may be ‘efficient' financially, but it uses more resources and creates more waste.
If we change how land is used, we could produce more of the full range of foods needed for a healthy diet, protect our productive soils and return marginal land for the regeneration of native biodiversity.
Public health in a degrading biosphere: Prof Alistair Woodward
Climate change can undermine the building blocks of good health.
Unbalanced ecosystems commonly lead to unexpected risks - like paralytic toxins released into the air from algal blooms off Australia.
The health impacts of heat waves, food insecurity and extreme weather increase existing inequalities.
There are changes we can make that benefit health and lessen the drivers of the polycrisis. They include plant-based diets and changing how we travel e.g. travel less, travel active, travel public, travel electric.
Prof Huhana Smith called on New Zealanders to accelerate action.
We explored ways to find consensus and develop understanding through participative democracy with Dr Cathrine Dyer and Dr Anne Bardsley.
Gareth Hughes and Sally Hett guided us to identify what brings us hope and the collective and individual actions we all could take.
Finally, Dr Catherine Knight reminded us that we must all move from being individual consumers to acting collectively as citizens. And that if we talk with others about our awareness of the polycrisis, we may be surprised to find they also care deeply, or we may plant seeds that will germinate later.