Kaipara Signs Climate Change Declaration

The Kaipara District Council this week signed up to the local government leaders’ declaration on climate change.  In doing so Kaipara Council has shamed TCDC which last month had it’s Mayor using thinly disguised climate science denial to refuse to sign the declaration.

Kaipara mayor Jason Smith said the council had to sign the declaration because climate change would hit the district hard.

It has more than 1000 kilometres of coastline and more than 25,000 hectares of land within a metre of the current high-tide mark.

“But the important thing is, the predictions that we … are having to prepare for predicted sea-level rises of 1.5 metres or 1.2 metres or 1.7 metres or 1.9 metres.

With the climate change declaration, he said the district was “putting our hand up and sending a signal to the rest of the councils in New Zealand”.

Ruawai, was already below sea level at high tide. (So is Moanataiari in Thames)

Dr Smith said the declaration showed residents that the council was prepared to lead the way on tricky issues associated with a changing climate.

What Dr Smith and his Council have shown is that it’s actually not that difficult to make the obvious connection between the severe impacts we face with climate change and sea level rise and making a commitment to do something about it by reducing emissions.

When you see these sensible science-based decisions being made by almost every other council in the country you can only but despair at the wilful ignorance and stupidity of most of our local elected representatives.

We have 11 years to reduce our emissions by 45% by 2030 to avoid catastrophic impacts from climate change, yet we have a Mayor’s still in denial that humans are causing climate change – a  view shared by only  12% of the New Zealand population