Greens leader praises ‘ground-breaking’ forum

Nelson is adding action to its words on tackling climate change, says Green Party leader James Shaw.

Shaw was among 300 people who attended the launch of the Nelson Tasman climate forum on Saturday.

The Green Party leader said the forum was the ‘‘first of its kind’’ in New Zealand.

‘‘There’s activity going on all around the country, but the model launched here is kind of ground-breaking.

‘‘I think Nelson is really leading on climate change, in the community and in local government.’’

He praised the Nelson City Council for not just declaring an emergency, which he said a number of councils had done, but for following the words with action, unlike many others so far.

‘‘It’s a real citizen-led movement here, and that’s really exciting.’’

The climate forum received a $30,000 grant from the council’s newly established climate fund last year.

Shaw said a lot of the value of the forum was showing elected representatives that there was not only a mandate for change, but a demand.

‘‘It makes it easier for democratically elected politicians when there’s pull from the population, rather than having that expressed every three years.’’

He said all levels of government, from local to national, functioned best with ‘‘active and ongoing engagement’’, which the council’s climate emergency declaration illustrated.

‘‘It was hard for the council not to make that decision, whatever their personal views.’’

He said the launch of the forum was one of the first material steps taken in the fight against climate change, which he said ‘‘no-one would be surprised to find out is a big focus’’ for the Greens.

‘‘The higher-level framework [for tackling climate change] is what this term was about, now it’s going into the hard work.’’

The Nelson Tasman Climate Forum will meet once a month, with its first meeting scheduled for March 14.