This is just a brief summary of some of the key initiatives relating to climate change in NZ and the Bay of Plenty. To learn more, come along to one of the Climate Change Info Sessions we running across Tauranga in early June. Firstly, the Climate Change Commission is consulting on its proposed “advice to… Continue reading Climate Change News & Consultations
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The Proposed Tauranga Domain Stadium
Details of the proposed $220 million, 8000-seat “Boutique Stadium” at Tauranga Domain have been released. The key points are: * Default option is a $220 million stadium ($192m + 14.6% estimated cost escalation) * Permanent seating planned for 7000 people * Temporary seating for another 8000 (15,000 total capacity), including “seating modules” for 5000 that… Continue reading The Proposed Tauranga Domain Stadium
Container Return Scheme needed more than ever
If you’ve read our thoughts about the the government’s recent ‘policy bonfire‘, you’ll see we don’t regard it as very significant to NZ’s climate goals. There are far bigger things to focus on than scrapping a hare-brained scheme to scrap polluting vehicles at a cost of between $81,000 and $126,000 per tonne of CO2 that… Continue reading Container Return Scheme needed more than ever
NZ’s Climate Emperor is Naked!
Media Release: 17 March 2023 – please click here to read NZ’s Climate Policy in the Bread & Butter Age.
Preparing for Climate Change
President Johnson reportedly said that one of his political opponents couldn’t fart and chew gum at the same time. Looking at the lay of the land after Cyclone Gabrielle raises the question of how LBJ might describe this country’s challenge around climate change. It seems we need to walk, chew gum, ride a bicycle and… Continue reading Preparing for Climate Change
What Happened to our ‘Climate Emergency’?
As we head rapidly towards the holiday season and the end of a challenging year for many people, we could just wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and head to the beach. However, since we are facing an economic downturn next year (being engineered by the Reserve Bank in order to cool… Continue reading What Happened to our ‘Climate Emergency’?
Democracy and Sustainability
Tauranga has moved from a state of democracy + no sustainability, to a state of no democracy + no sustainability. We are looking for something better than either of those options: democracy + sustainability. While many Tauranga residents are looking forward to the opportunity to elect councillors in 2024, the risk is that the return… Continue reading Democracy and Sustainability
Tauranga’s Climate Inaction Plan
We have long since reached the time for action of climate change. Call it a climate crisis, declare a climate emergency if you like, announce a net zero 2050 target, even set a 2035 target for each sector – the government has done all those things, but none of that really matters in the long… Continue reading Tauranga’s Climate Inaction Plan
Time to Talk about Tauranga’s Climate Plan
We don’t want to scare the horses, but did you know we have about 4 years left of our carbon budget if we are to play our part to meet NZ’s goal to limit global warming to less than 1.5 degrees? Let’s approach this through a decision tree: Do you observe the global climate is… Continue reading Time to Talk about Tauranga’s Climate Plan
Losing Our Democracy
“SmartGrowth” is a collaboration between Tauranga City Council, Western BOP District Council, BOP Regional Council, Tangata Whenua and central government that was established in 2004 to “manage” growth in this part of the country. On 17 August 2022, in a SmartGrowth Leadership Group meeting that wasn’t even livestreamed or uploaded onto YouTube, representatives of the… Continue reading Losing Our Democracy