The new leaders of change: The time to act on climate change is now
If thousands of young climate marchers across the globe can teach us anything, its that the face of environmental leadership is changing. The new leaders want young people, who will have to deal with the fallout of the climate catastrophe , to have a say on what we do to prevent it. They want indigenous communities, who will be some of the most profoundly impacted, to be heard. That change is being echoed in New Zealand too. Law student Erana Riddell, 23, is one of a growing number of young Kiwis getting involved with local government to make a difference for the planet. READ MORE: * 'Doing nothing isnt an option': Cataclysmic climate change projections spark action * Youth-led kaitiakitanga project delivers everything from hands-on conservation training to live music * Eeling stops in poisonous Canterbury lake as new agreement signed She is a member of Environment Canterburys (ECan) Youth Ropu, and is the first youth member to be co-opted into one of the regions water zone committees. While Riddell says she stumbled into local government work, growing up close to her whakapapa Ngai Tahu on her dads side, and Ngati Porou on her mums has always steered her towards a connection with the land. She started out as a member of the Selwyn Districts Youth Council as a time filler. Then she saw ECan advertising its Youth Ropu. I am mana whenua, [but] I didnt know anything about the environmental decision-making process. I didnt know anything about ECan. The ropu has done some important work. When the time came to make submissions on ECans long-term plan, it ran hui for young people across Canterbury to make sure they understood the plan and that their voices were heard. Possibly their biggest achievement was getting youth members full representation and voting rights on water zone committees. When Riddell joined the Banks Peninsula Water Zone Committee she was the youngest by at least 15 years. Her new colleagues were welcoming, but that didnt mean there werent barriers to young environmentalists getting involved. I had this preconceived idea Id have to know everything about everything in order to have a value-based opinion on it. Riddell says passionate young Kiwis still run up against unsupportive and sometimes aggressive adults, often stuck in old ways of thinking. We need to look at how to make these spaces more accessible. While ECan was making progress, young people still lacked a voice around a lot of political tables nationally, and their frustration was growing. We ... are growing up in a different world than our nanas and koros and parents. We know the consequences, and if we dont act were going to be the ones who reap the rewards. Riddell says mana whenua are also left out of environmental conversations too often. People are always saying, oh we have no clue how to live sustainably, but Maori actually do. They have 700 years of knowledge. Really, its recognising whats good for Maori is good for the world. We all want the same thing. Using that knowledge could go a long way towards better biodiversity, sustainability, and climate outcomes, she says. Water is an ancestor to us. For Wairewa Runanga at Little River, catching tuna [eels] is a big thing for us, and harvesting saltwater fisheries. For a farmer, that water feeds his stock, his family. We lose a lot by going head to head. The environment should never suffer for profit though, she says. If theres no planet, theres no people. If Arowhenua in Timaru can only eat one tuna per month from their ancestral waterway ... the systems not good enough. For Pasifika people, sea level rise means their homes will be underwater. Both the Crown and councils around New Zealand use the concept of kaitiakitanga or guardianship of the land liberally, but in many cases downgrade mana whenua to just stakeholders. What if we all really knew our history? Thatd be awesome in these governing bodies. For a lot [of them], its going to be a really confronting process that theyre going to have to go through. Really, its recognising whats good for Maori is good for the world. We all want the same thing.