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January 27, 2026
#national Mike Smith: Climate Emergency Is No Longer a Warning—It’s Here
Dale Husband
Posted On January 27, 2026
Download AudioVeteran Māori climate advocate Mike Smith says the devastation unfolding across Aotearoa is no longer a future risk-it is the lived reality of a climate emergency decades in the making.
As storms intensify, floods overwhelm communities, and lives are upended across multiple regions, Smith says what the country is experiencing now is exactly what scientists, iwi leaders, and frontline communities have been warning about for years. For Māori and rural whānau, he says, the crisis is not abstract-it is arriving at the doorsteps of homes, marae, and livelihoods.
Smith believes Aotearoa must act immediately and decisively if it is to confront the climate emergency with the seriousness it demands. That means moving beyond statements of concern and into rapid emissions reduction, climate-resilient infrastructure investment, and emergency planning that reflects the scale of what is now unfolding. He argues that continuing with incremental change while disasters escalate is no longer defensible.
Central to Smith’s advocacy is the issue of accountability. He says governments and major emitters must be held responsible for decades of delay, denial, and half-measures-while communities now pay the price. Māori, he notes, are disproportionately affected due to historic land loss, underinvestment in infrastructure, and exclusion from decision-making. For Smith, justice means recognising who benefited from inaction, and who is now bearing the cost.
Looking ahead, Smith says structural change is unavoidable. Protecting lives and essential services will require a fundamental rethink of where and how people live, how infrastructure is designed, and who controls adaptation decisions. That includes honest conversations about managed retreat, rebuilding critical services away from high-risk zones, and placing Māori knowledge and leadership at the centre of climate planning.
But beyond policy and infrastructure, Smith stresses the need for a humane national response. With people displaced, traumatised, and in some cases killed, he says these events cannot continue to be framed as isolated “natural disasters.” Instead, they must be recognised as symptoms of a systemic failure-one that demands compassion, long-term support, and a commitment to care for those most affected.
For Mike Smith, the message is stark but clear: the climate emergency is not coming-it is already here. How Aotearoa responds now will determine not only how well communities survive the next storm, but whether the country is willing to confront the deeper injustices that the climate crisis has laid bare.
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