Climate ignorance

Kaipara Mayor Craig Jepson and deputy mayor Jonathan Larsen in their abysmal ignorance of climate science have persuaded the majority of Kaipara District Council elected members that their preferred option is to stop a dedicated work programme or budget towards climate adaptation, climate action or climate resilience.

That means that no further work would be done to develop the Ruawai

Adaptive Pathways pilot programme, there would be no direct support for specific sustainability, adaptation or resilience to communities and eligibility for some streams of external funding might cease.

What more do Jepson and Larsen know than the World Meteorological Organisation when the key messages in its “State of the Global Climate 2023” report include that 2023 was the warmest year on record, concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide — reached record high levels, ocean heat content reached its highest level in the 65-year observational record, global mean sea level reached a record high, Antarctic sea-ice extent reached an absolute record low in February, preliminary data from reference glaciers show the largest loss of ice on record since 1950, extreme weather continued to lead to severe socio-economic impacts (including loss of life, the destruction of homes and large-scale air pollution), food security, population displacement and impacts on vulnerable populations continued to be of mounting concern in 2023 with weather and climate hazards exacerbating the situation in many parts of the world?

In his 2022 election campaign bio, Jepson concluded, “council should represent the community not dictate to them. The 2022 local body elections are an opportunity to return public respect to our local council”.

With 850 Kaipara residents petitioning against their council's cuts to climate funding Jepson and Larsen must surely reconsider their wilfully ignorant stance on climate science. Ross Forbes

Kerikeri