The Climate Roadshow, which started in Cape Reinga in the North and Bluff in the South, arrived in Napier on Tuesday 22 September as part of its journey to the capital. The Roadshow is being organised by Extinction Rebellion Aotearoa New Zealand, with support from Aotearoa Climate Emergency. The Roadshow is seeking to put climate action on the agenda for the 2020 Election, calling for:

• a national declaration of a climate emergency
• a Citizens Assembly on Climate Change
• a green, sustainable, economic recovery from the pandemic

Hawkes Bay local Helen Howard will speak of her climate story as part of the Napier segment of the roadshow. Helene not only protests to demand action on the climate but also takes practical action to protect our environment by running projects to encourage native tree planting and the picking up of waste on local beaches. Helen says “Our children will bear the brunt of our climate inaction. The problem with the current economic and political system is short term thinking and an obsession with GDP without taking into account both the human and environmental costs.”

“Over 1400 governance agencies across 30 different countries have declared a climate emergency,” says Mathias Corwin, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion. “In New Zealand, we have 76% of our population living in jurisdictions which have declared a climate emergency. It’s time for us to declare it at a national level.”

Roadshow crew member Caril Cowan says, “A Citizens Assembly on climate was held in France and in the UK this year. We need to involve the public in decisions about big issues that go beyond politics, and where a broad consensus is needed”.

“COVID 19 has shown us how quickly the political and economic landscape can change,” says Mathias Corwin. “The Government has demonstrated it is capable of taking swift and decisive action, and we are now asking for an equally urgent response to the climate emergency.”

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