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Iwi leaders have called for a whole of society response to climate change.
More than 120 Maori leaders and officials from all over the country attended the first Maori Leaders Climate Summit in Wellington over the weekend.
One of the organisers, Mike Smith, says the first day was spent listening to climate scientists and meterologists about the causes of climate change and what can be expected in the future, and the second looked at risk mitigation and resilience.
The hui called on all iwi to implement transformative economic models that enable a rapid transition to a zero-emissions economy, including that Maori authorities consider abrupt climate change considerations when investing.
Mr Smith says moving to a zero carbon economy is inevitable.
"We have to do it if we want to future-proof our mokopuna's future and we've got to do it rapidly so we can't afford to be mucking around, flipping the thing over and turning it inside out for too long scratching our heads and thinking should we do it or shan't we do it. We've got to realise it's time to move and get the show on the road," he says.
Mr Smith welcomed the call from the iwi leaders for the government to cease activites around fossil-based fuel production and to instead invest in renewable energy production and support infrastructure.
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