The Climate Chap: Adapting our economy

THE CLIMATE CHAP

30 Jan, 2023

OPINION

Our government recently published their incredibly important National adaptation plan. Why so important? Simply that it provides policy on how we as a nation need to anticipate how our environment may be impacted by the climate crisis and what measures will be needed to protect our environment, communities and citizens.

Although incredibly light on specific targets, goals and funding, the plan signals that climate problems including river floods, wildfires and rising sea levels will all need to be taken on board in order to protect us and our properties.

Remedies may include raising river banks, building sea walls, restricting developments in locations known to be flood prone, and maybe even relocating properties, especially in low-lying coastal areas such as Mangawhai. Local government now has responsibility for reviewing what measures are needed within their boundaries, and analysis, discussions, decisions and actions will be undertaken in due course.

Floods, either from river banks overflowing or as a result of rising sea levels, are likely to cause the most damage, with this adaptation plan providing direction as to how best to minimise losses. For Kaipara, with its coastal communities, extensive harbours, and abundant waterways, the measures and investments needed to satisfy the adaptation plan are likely to be complex, extensive and costly.

However, in reviewing the overall plan, there is something rather important missing. It's certainly a commendable objective to protect our land and properties from the effects of the climate crisis, but what about protecting our industries and wealth creation? Simply put, there appears minimal recognition as to how our dominant industries will be impacted by climate crisis, and how we need to adapt our economy to ensure that we as a nation ensure ongoing prosperity.

Presently our economy is based on the three F’s of farming, forestry and fishing – plus industries including horticulture, mining, oil exploration and viticulture, all terribly exposed to our changing climate and need to reduce nasty emissions. These are all primary industries, based on exploiting the land and our natural resources. Eliminating fossil fuels will naturally result in the decline of coal mining and oil and natural gas production. Exporting pine logs will vastly reduce as we switch to woodlands of long-term native trees plus China rapidly becoming self-sufficient anyway. Fish stocks will be impacted by the warming of the oceans. Soaring temperatures combined with droughts will severely impact production of our fruits, vegetables, and vineyards. Our legal obligations to reduce methane may well result in significant down-sizing of our dairy and livestock-based industries.

So it seems to me that just about every industry that we have traditionally depended upon for our economy to thrive is under threat. Many countries however have been brave enough to take this scenario on board and to re-engineer their economies to thrive into the future and to be resilient to the harm that the climate crisis threatens. I can find no evidence that our governments, past and present, have given this threat any consideration.

Inevitably such forward-looking nations have moved away from primary industries and developed knowledge-based industries. Many are relying upon tourism and education to deliver overseas funds, and hopefully these two industries will remain huge for us. Examples? Ireland now counts pharmaceuticals, finance and information technology as dominant industries. Taiwan has become the global leader in semiconductors. Japan leads in consumer electronics. Finland and Sweden in telecommunications. Denmark in wind turbines. Germany in industrial engineering and cars. France sadly in weaponry.

So, I hear you ask, what are our emerging knowledge-based industries that are able to prosper regardless of climate and able to generate global success? Examples are our computer games industry, led by PikPok (employing our son Robert); Space led by the wonderful Rocket Lab enterprise; Healthcare as led by Fisher & Paykel; Film science as led by Weta Workshop; Precision engineering from the likes of Buckley Systems.

Methinks we need far more emerging industries, and for our education system to generate lots of graduates able to function in the knowledge economy in preference to more accountants and lawyers. Methinks that our government needs to fund these emerging industries. Methinks if we do not have an adaptation plan to migrate our primary industries towards knowledge-based wealth then climate will not be the only crisis we face.

It's certainly a commendable objective to protect our land and properties from the effects of the climate crisis, but what about protecting our industries and wealth creation?