November 22, 2023
Māori need in climate adaption planning
The author of a new report on climate change adaptation report says Māori must be an integral part of planning because they are among the hardest hit by extreme weather.
Kali Mercier, the deputy director of the Helen Clark Foundation, says regions with high Māori populations like Taitokerau and Tairawhiti are seeing more floods and cyclones.
Nationwide, Maori who live in poorer housing and with strained economic circumstances are also more at risk..
“Maori are likely to be one of the groups most negatively impacted by Climate Change unfortunately. So lots of Maori land is low-lying or its on coastal land and subject to erosion. One stat I saw was that around 80% of marae are at risk of flooding. So there are really strong physical reasons for Maori leading those conversations,” Ms Mercier says.
She’s not seeing any urgency among councils and government to prepare for what’s coming.