Climate change symptom of obsession with growth, says young leader
Raven Maeder was flanked by prominent figures at the launch of a community forum to tackle climate change in Nelson in February. But the 22-year-old university student was the sole speaker to receive a standing ovation at the meeting. The former Nelson College for Girls student told the crowd of over 300 why she had become a leader of New Zealand's "School Strike 4 Climate" movement, and that the planet's predicament was a result of our insistence on making infinite demands on a finite system. When Stuff contacted her in Wellington a few weeks later, Maeder said she felt increasingly uncomfortable with being praised as a Pakeha woman, for saying things "a lot of people have been saying for ages". READ MORE: * Iwi leader Mike Smith takes OMV oil boss to International Criminal Court * Students to skip strike, plant trees for climate change * Nelson schools support students' strike for climate change Conversations about climate science had started before she was born, and the talk now needed to centre on how to "rapidly decarbonise", the Victoria University undergraduate in law and environmental studies said. "I think that inherently requires moving away from an economic system that is based very much on the destruction of the life-supporting eco-systems that we depend on, for profit." Maeder had become increasingly aware that this was far from a new cause. "For all indigenous cultures, there has been a struggle to protect nature against exploitation since colonisation. "Climate change is very much just a symptom of the westernised world's obsession with growth and a really unsustainable way of living, in relation to our environment and in relation to each other." Indigenous people and the world's poorest communities would be the worst affected by climate change, but had done the least to cause it, Maeder said. Meanwhile the response to the climate crisis had been heavily dominated by western thinking - the very ideology that had led us to this point, she said. Innovating to reduce greenhouse gas emissions alone would be like "putting a plaster on a gaping wound". We needed to change where the power lay in our economic and political systems, and put indigenous people at the centre of the transition, she said. "Indigenous peoples not only are the most impacted by climate change, but also really hold the solutions and the ways of living and the knowledge that we need in order to live in balance with our world." "If we are really serious about climate justice in Aotearoa, we need to really think about how we are going to transform our country to truly honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) and allow for Maori tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) which was promised in Te Tiriti." Haylee Koroi from the Maori and Pasifika youth collective, Te Ara Whatu, said Maori involved in the climate movement didn't always want to focus their energy on decolonisation. But injustices arising from colonisation continued to hamper indigenous leadership, which was needed to tackle climate change, Koroi said. She referred to efforts by the hapu of Auckland to prevent the spread of Kauri dieback two years ago. The hapu put a specific rahui (temporary closure of a space) in forested areas of the Waitakere Ranges, but people still entered the forest, ignoring "thousands of years of knowledge passed down in order to make these decisions". It was only when Auckland Council supported the hapu several weeks later, that people abided by the closure, Koroi said. "Our current model allows continued movement within an oppressive system. It doesn't ever recognise that it itself is the oppressive system, and essentially it creates a kind of paternalistic relationship." Dismantling colonial and capitalist systems was necessary as part of the climate movement, because the premise of those systems was to exploit, Koroi said. "Whether that's the exploitation of people, or of resource and land. "Ultimately exploitation is a human-made thing; within natural eco-systems it doesn't exist." Failing to address injustices suffered by oppressed people as part of climate discussions would mean "privileged people having a privileged conversation, about how to save privileged people." We needed to realise that everyone was in the same boat, Koroi said. As outlined in Te Tiriti, rangatiratanga or indigenous sovereignty sat in a local context, and we should follow that model. Community and relationships would be what got us through the challenges ahead, she said. "When we lose basic facilities like power, and flooding becomes common or drought becomes common, that's when community is necessary." Other action could involve organisations, including climate NGO's, researching decolonisation to avoid "perpetuating harm", through putting up barriers for indigenous people, Koroi said. Measures could also include better resourcing Maori communities. Privileged people could also hand over speaking opportunities to Maori, she said. "Having the humility to learn, and understand that you might not have all the answers. "And that we can have a more rounded and complete solution when we let those who have had to live in this context of resilience for hundreds of years, if we let them speak." The coronavirus pandemic was exposing the unsustainability of the "human-made", western ideals of individualism, competitiveness and ownership, Koroi said. "When you have people below the poverty line who can't even eat, let alone worry about the virus, I think what that tells us is that we're all connected." The consequences of our actions couldn't be "put in a corner", while we carried on. "How we take care of one another, that's going to be for the good of everyone." Whakapapa, "the narrative of relationships with both our human and non-human relations", was at the centre of everything Maori, Koroi said. "If we put that first, I don't really see how we can go wrong. "I don't know what it's going to look like at the end, but I think it's going to give us the best chance."