Ours is a biologically complex and exquisite planet. Caring, informed people now accept that a healthy sustainable environment is integral to all life and that our future depends on having genuine sustainability as our core goal.
Today, most scientists believe critical “thresholds” are upon us, that the consequences are likely to be disastrous and irreversible if we do not make urgent fundamental changes. In this respect the links between climate change, current fossil fuel extraction and combustion, and a stable economy are deeply concerning. So far, New Zealand has failed to truly face up to such unprecedented threats to its security.
We, the undersigned, therefore call on the New Zealand parliament to face up to the situation and forthwith, dispassionately assess the risks in the following five priority areas*and from those recommendations, design cross-party policies to avert any confirmed threats to give future generations the very best chance of security, peace, social justice and opportunity.
1. Economic security: the risk of a sudden, deepening, or prolonged financial crisis.
2. Energy and climate security: the risk of continuing our heavy dependence on fossil fuels.
3. Business continuity: the risk exposure of all New Zealand business, including farming, to a lower
carbon economy.
4. Ecological security: the risks associated with failing to genuinely protect both land-based and
marine ecosystems and their natural processes.
5. Genuine well-being: the risk of persisting with a subsidised, debt-based economy, preoccupied
with maximising consumption and GDP.
* for further explanation on these five, refer to “The Appeal” on this website
Please add your name to the Appeal to be formally presented to parliament, and your comments for other Kiwis to read.
I support a National Risk Assessment of the five subjects identified in the Appeal for a wise political response to our deteriorating world.
~ Mo tatou, a mo ka uri a muri ake nei ~
“For us and our children after us.”