Hard to escape from climate change
It’s hard to escape the climate change narrative in our everyday lives. Wehear, see and read about rising temperatures, rising sea levels and in Hawke’s Bay, moredroughts predicted.
Right now, there is public pressure on the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to domore to address climate change. To bemorespecific, climate change mitigation or reduce our carbon footprint.
Funnily enough a large part of the regional council’s role has always been in the climate change space, but in adaption. That is, flood protection, erosion control and water security.
Over the past three years (before our post Covid-19 rates freeze this year), Hawke’s Bay residents have seen large increases in their rates with a focus on fixing our environment and particularly water quality.
Myquestion to the ratepayer is, are you seeing good return for your investment?
The regional council has grown considerably yet I still have constituents concerned about rising gravel in our rivers, and no water security outcomes.
With the next LongTerm Plan process under way, I can
tell you there is yetmore pressure on rates increases well above the rate of inflation due tonewlevels of services proposed and reduced income from council investments.
This pathweare on seems unsustainable. Wecan’t keep arrogantly deciding our ratepayer has an endless supply of funds while unemployment is currently rising, the cost of housing is going through the roof and international tourism has vanished.
Oneof our largest contributors to the local economyis pastoral sheep and beef farming. It returned morethan $400 million to the region’seconomyin 2019.
Yet farmers continue to get vilified for greenhouse gas emissions. It was pleasing to see a recent Beef + LambNZ report that estimates the woodyvegetation onNew Zealand’s sheep and beef farms is offsetting between 63 per cent and 118 per cent of their on-farm agricultural emissions, and that these farms are well on theirwayto being carbon positive if not already.
Muchwork needs to be done around soil carbon levels and what is happening underneath the feet of our livestock. Ifweare carbon positive, wejust might be able to stem this tide of pine trees takingupall our valuable land.
Ifweare going to look at consumption habits, how about promoting wool over synthetics? Woolhas ahost of environmental benefits, like the prevention of microplastics entering our waterways and oceans, yet it never seems to get a look in. Even after our farmers produce large volumes and the industry employs hundreds of people locally to get it from farm to port. Iwas concerned to read a recent Niwa report predicting climate change impacts for Hawke’s Bay. Ifweput our faith in these predictions, where is our moneybest spent for future generations?
Is it employing morestaff in morecars driving to your business orhometo promote buying electric cars and installing roof solar panels madein Chinese factories (no doubt consuming energy from coal fired power stations)?
Or is it storing water for our dry years, extracting gravel to protect our productive plains and urban communities, takingupthe Right Tree, Right Place initiative and covering our vast landscape withmany moretrees for shade, shelter, wetlands, honey production, and biodiversity?
In a recent regional council survey of Hawke’s Bay residents, water use and storage wasthe main suggestion for activity to combat climate change. After seeing impacts during last year’s drought, webadly need stored water to keep our river flowsupfor the sake of their health during dry summers.
Hawke’s Bay has always been a great food producing region.
Given the drop in international tourism following Covid-19, that productivity isnowmore important than ever.
Imagine water security solutions that help grow our key horticulture sector earning millions of dollars on the Heretaunga Plains and nowexpanding into the Ruataniwha Basin.
Or perhaps our soon to be regional council appointed climate ambassador will tell us to eat less grass fed meat produced right here in Hawke’s Bay which employs thousands of people from farm to port and everything in between, earning millions of export dollars for our region?