The Government deserves praise for making the declaration of a climate emergency one of the first actions of the new Parliament, but acting in partnership with Māori will be key to delivering meaningful action, says Māori Climate Commissioner Donna Awatere Huata.
The Government today declared a climate emergency, recognising both the advocacy of New Zealanders in calling for action to protect the environment, and the devasting impact extreme weather will have on New Zealand and the wellbeing of New Zealanders.
Commissioner Awatere Huata says generations of Māori have been among the leading voices calling on successive Governments to take greater action to protect Aotearoa and its people from climate change.
“The Government deserves to be recognised for what this declaration means, not only in terms of the symbolism of the motion, but what it can now enable the Government to do in terms of concrete action,” says Commissioner Awatere Huata.
“However, this can only be achieved in partnership with Māori, who have long sought to highlight the degradation of our environment and the impact it will have on our people – in particular our most vulnerable.”
“We have long understood the importance of living and working in harmony with the natural world, and the concepts of whakapapa, mauri and utu should underpin the way all New Zealanders approach our environment. From these principles we can build an inclusive, all-encompassing approach to climate change that supports and empowers everyone.”
Commissioner Awatere Huata says that Māori have not only recognised the changing climate as an emergency for many years, but – like many indigenous peoples around the world – are already feeling its effects.
“We must now move on from debating the nature of the threat, and start working towards locally-led solutions that will not only benefit all of Aotearoa but demonstrate global leadership.”
“The way to do this is in partnership between the Crown and Māori, to harness the knowledge and experience we have as guardians of this place, to provide solutions that benefit everyone.”
“We look forward to working with the Government to establish the framework for this action, which must now take urgent priority as we seek to address the emergency together.”
Yes, Ms Awatere, the Māori Experience is essential.
https://climateemergencydeclaration.org/climate-emergency-declarations-cover-15-million-citizens/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12JinXMK4lM
Manfred Staab: “….the Māori Experience is essential.”
It isn’t clear to me how the Maori experience is in-principle different from that of anyone else here.
G’Day D’Esterre,
Thanks for feedback.
Perhaps these aspects may help foster understanding of the “Māori experience”?
https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/Community/Your-community/iwi/A-Maori-Perspective-Te-Ao-Maori/Maori-and-the-land/
“… mission to New Zealand was considered unsuccessful by his employers, the Dutch East India Company, Tasman having found ‘no treasures or matters of great profit’.”
“The contribution of guns to Māori intertribal warfare, along with European diseases, led to a steep decline in the Māori population during this time.”
https://www.newzealand.com/us/feature/europeans-arrive-to-aotearoa/
etc.
Manfred Staab: Thanks for the links, read them. I’m still not seeing what the in-principle difference is between Maori and everyone else.
Thank you for further investigation, D’Esterre.
‘A priori’ (knowledge independent from experience) there is no difference between Māori and other ethnic groups.
> All human species are the same.
‘A posteriori’ (knowledge that depends on empirical evidence) there are significant differences.
> Some human groups established distinct socioeconomic traits and advantages over the others.
Matters become more complex if (social and economic) class-structure is included in analyses and viewpoints.
Some Kiwis are reluctant and resistant to get into the nitty-gritty of these terminologies, as it would challenge a few myths as a nation and self-images of the individual.
(Both terms mentioned above appear in Euclid’s ‘Elements’ but were popularized by Immanuel Kant’s ‘Critique of Pure Reason’.)
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