We are delighted for Helen Clark to become Patron of the new independent think tank with University of Auckland called “The Helen Clark Foundation.”

The Helen Clark Foundation is a new organisation and needs your support to grow.

Helen Clark is seen on twitter about the Helen Clark Foundation.

Great response to news about establishment of Helen Clark Foundation. Check out @HelenClarkFound for updates on what’s coming up & how to get involved. Thanks @AUTuni @PolicyObsAUT for hosting.

Launching on 21 March. 1st research paper on “green hydrogen”.

We support consultation of environmental issues that will allow us to engage with more researchers, to hold more educational events for students, and hold events also outside of Auckland.

The foundation welcomes both our support and feedback about how best to increase the foundation’s impact, which will benefit us all.

The foundation states “to become a voice which is ‘baked in’ to the New Zealand policy landscape while providing meaningful opportunities to the next generation of thought leaders.”

Helen Clark has been a life-long conservationist, both in her professional and private lives, and we at CEAC are absolutely honoured to have her as our new Patron of this independent think tank.

On a personal level in our own struggle within CEAC in 2002 we on behalf of our residential community approached Helen Clark as PM asking her to assist us in Napier overburdened by ‘heavy port bound truck freight traffic’ causing heavy noise, vibrations, and air pollution to residential communities that were suffering from resulting health effects.

Helen wrote back a letter advising that she was setting up a meeting with her Minister of Finance Michael Cullen with Transit NZ CEO Robin Dunlop and others to meet with our community and offer mitigation to help our declining residential health.

That event showed us all that Helen was very positively concerned about our declining environment at that time, so is an excellent patron of our ‘built’ urban, and natural environment now.

We were also at that time seeking increased use of rail, as trucks are using excessive use of oil for three components; (fuels, tyres, and the bitumen for the roads) where rail only uses fuel for motive power and uses only steel rail and steel wheels).

So there is a massive reduction in rail use of oil, due to these other components (wheels and tracks) using no oil use constantly.
(Oil companies must hate us using rail due to far lower use of oil on rail.)

Helen Clark was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1999-2008 and Minister of Conservation from 1987-1989. As Minister of Conservation and as Prime Minister, she was a strong supporter of protection of habitat for New Zealand’s birds, and has visited many other protected areas in New Zealand and around the world.

Helen has wide ranging interests in natural heritage globally and continues to advocate for the protection of wildlife and habitats.

As Administrator of UNDP for eight years, she oversaw large programmes for wildlife and habitat protection on land and sea and in coastal areas.

We very much look forward to being involved with this truly “home baked” ‘think tank’ and seeing the positive impact it will is have for our collective environmental health and wellness of both us and New Zealand’s unique wildlife and move the Government and all local bodies to lowering our carbon emissions from industry and transport and saving our climate from catastrophe.

We can only find a better life ahead by having Helen involved again in our collective lives.

Ken Crispin.
Secretary.
Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre Inc’ (CEAC)

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