Pānui-July 2024
Kia ora koutou katoa
The focus for the month ahead for us here at CAA is the first of our seven commitments of the Funders Commitment on Climate Action - Reflecting Te Tiriti o Waitangi and supporting Māori aspirations regarding climate action; We, the undersigned, commit to the spirit of partnership with Iwi, Hapū / Māori to address the causes and impacts of climate change. We will seek to enable Māori aspirations and recognise mātauranga Māori in climate action, respecting whakapapa, tino rangatiratanga, rite tahi (equity) and kaitiakitanga.
This fits well with this year's Matariki theme - set by Dr Rangi Mataamua - ‘Matariki Heri Kai’ a call to action for whānau to gather, hunt, grow or collect kai from their local food landscapes with the purpose of connecting ourselves to our taiao, through our puku. By doing this, not only do we connect more deeply with ourselves and one another through the sharing of kai; we seek to honour the environment that provides our kai and nourishment.
Whether you catch a fish, collect pipi with your mokopuna, harvest some kūmara, cultivate a small vege garden, pick some lemons off your neighbours tree or enjoy a home cooked meal with your whānau... We wish you a happy māori new year, and hope you get some time to reflect, set intentions for the year ahead and enjoy a home cooked meal - or better yet, a locally sourced meal - with the ones you hold dear.
Mānawatia a Matariki ki a koutou katoa.
Climate co-leads update
Following qualitative interviews with our Funders Commitment signatories in April, we received feedback that there was an appetite for resources, templates and webinars to provide insight into our mahi in the climate action space.
You spoke, and we listened. We have published two online webinars and a glossary of climate related terms with more resources in the pipeline. Stay tuned e te iwi.
Overview of the Tika Transition - Webinar
The overview of the Tika Transition webinar seeks to provide context around how the Tika Transition, developed by Dr Maria Bargh, can be applied in a philanthropic setting.
At Climate Action Aotearoa, we recognise that tikanga Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi must sit at the heart of our climate action response, which is why a Tika Transition is a critical resource that underpins our mahi and highlights our commitment to reflect Te Tiriti o Waitangi and supporting Māori aspirations regarding climate action.
Watch time: 14 minutes. Watch the webinar or present it to your board here
2024 Annual report findings - Webinar
The climate co-leads have filmed a webinar highlighting success stories and discussing key findings of the 2024 annual report. This can be found here: https://youtu.be/_uNBGHE_0v0
Watch time: 18 minutes.
Glossary of climate terms
We have published a glossary of climate related terms, to help you navigate the ever evolving climate colloquialisms. This glossary incorporates both reo pākehā and reo Māori kupu, if you have any suggestions or submissions to the glossary whakapā mai.
Climate Action Working Group (CAWG)
The CAWG have been busy finalising the recipients of the Kaupapa of National Significance Fund.
In March 2024, the Kaupapa of National Significance Fund was established by the Combined Community Trusts of Aotearoa. This is a climate action focused fund; with a total granting value of $600k over a three year period. The Climate Action Working Group has led this collaboration with the first financial contributors being Trust Waikato, Foundation North, Rātā Foundation, Toi Foundation, Bay Trust, Otago Community Trust, Community Trust South and Eastern Central Community Trust.
The fund aims to support and empower community led climate action through funding initiatives that: contribute to long term reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through community based/community led action; support ecological resilience; support the building of community climate resilience in the face of increasing extreme weather events; contribute to a tika (equitable) transition,reflecting commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and supporting Māori aspirations regarding climate action.
News
Budget 2024 saw the following major decisions concerning funding for climate action:
1. The ‘Climate Emergency Response Fund' is gone.
2. The Regional Infrastructure Fund, for reducing NZ's long-standing infrastructure deficit, will now need to cover climate resilience projects such as stop banks and floodwalls.
3. The Waste disposal levy, for composting & recycling initiatives, will now need to cover clean ups following natural disasters; clean ups of contaminated sites & landfills; and the restoration of freshwater catchments.
4. A $200 million boost for the country's rail network. https://insidegovernment.co.nz/budget-backs-practical-climate-action/
Taranaki councils have combined with a local philanthropic foundation to launch a new fund, Taranaki Regional Disaster Relief Fund. This aims to streamline how public donations are made and distributed when natural disasters strike.
Changes to the waste disposal levy
“As part of Budget 2024 decisions, the Government has announced revenue from the waste disposal levy will be spent on a wider range of projects supporting the environment and climate change mitigation and adaptation in addition to minimising waste.”
Fisher Funds' newly released article 'Reporting on the effect of climate change'
New legislation passed in 2023 requires around 200 large financial institutions, including Fisher Funds, to start reporting on how climate change is currently impacting their funds and how it may impact funds in the future. These reports are known as climate statements.Why does it matter?
Climate-related disclosures are made on a fund-by-fund basis to help you, our investors, understand the impact of climate change on the future performance of your investments.
These new reporting requirements are intended to provide you with greater visibility of the risks of climate change on your funds, both physical risks, such as the impact of flooding, wildfires and higher temperatures on the businesses your fund invests in, as well as the associated risks to the economy in a low carbon future (sometimes called “transitional risks”) that can impact financial markets.
Mandatory climate-related reporting will also help New Zealand meet its international obligations to achieve the target of net zero emissions by 2050. It will:
ensure the effects of climate change are routinely considered in business, investment, lending and insurance underwriting decisions
help climate reporting organisations better show their responsibility and forward planning in considering climate issues
lead to more efficient allocation of capital, and help smooth the
transition to a more sustainable, low emissions economy.
Source: MBIE
Extreme Weather Research Platform recently hosted an insightful webinar where they presented the key findings of their research. In response to the extreme weather events in the North Island, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) allocated $10.8 million in February 2023 for urgent scientific research and data collection. The funding was distributed across several different projects.
Watch time: 1hr 18mins. It’s a worthwhile watch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCeiDINShqk
Climate Adaptation Inquiry Submission
The purpose of The Climate Adaptation Inquiry is to develop and recommend high-level objectives and principles for the design of a climate change adaptation model for New Zealand, to support the development of policy and legislation to address climate adaptation. CAA put in a submission with recommendations around:
(a) the nature of the climate adaptation problem New Zealand faces
(b) frameworks for investment and cost-sharing
(c) roles and responsibilities for government and philanthropy
(d) climate risk and response information-sharing
The committee must finally report on the inquiry by 5 September 2024. Please read here:
Effective Engagement on Climate
Lastly, how do we communicate climate impacts and support behaviour change? It’s the burning question of our time. One of the key ways that funders can leverage their resources to maximise impact is through supporting work focused on engaging the public on climate change. Climate Outreach Australia have carried out research and in their report, they set out the three hallmarks of effective engagement. These principles should guide how we can move from awareness to normalising action. Download the report here.
Para Kore has announced their ‘He Mana tō te Kai’ programme that will take you on a journey through whakapapa, māramatanga, kaitiakitanga and manaakitanga. Their wānanga series aims to uncover the systems of kai, learn useful tips to save money, reduce kai waste, learn the whakapapa of our kai, decolonise our puku and make a plan to raise the inherent mana of kai.
Participation in our programme is completely free for whānau Māori. The journey involves taking part in four wānanga:
Wānanga One: Whakapapa – Looking at our kai as Māori in relation to atua and our environment
Wānanga Two: Māramatanga – What our traditional kai systems and practices were, how and why they have changed, and where we are now
Wānanga Three: Kaitiakitanga – What we can do as whānau to value kai and waste less
Wānanga Four: Manaakitanga – Sharing learnings and making a plan moving forward through restoration of communal relationships
If you’re an organisation that is keen to learn more about this programme for whānau you serve, please register your interest here
Our climate co-leads will also be hosting two respective Te Pūaha Talk sessions. These sessions will be held online and are welcome for anyone to attend.
Esther Whitehead’s - Climate action - Get Sh*t Done! Will be hosted over two separate sessions, with the first one on 7th August 2 - 2.30pm and the second on 14th August 2 - 2.30pm.
“If you want to know how to put the action into climate action for your organisation, this is for you. Over two 30-minute sessions, you will explore a process for prioritising climate actions, how to achieve your outcomes, and how to communicate with your stakeholders during your outcomes journey.”
Find out more and register here.
Arohanui West’s - Te Reo o te taiao - the language of the environment
Will be hosted on September 26, 8am-9am.
In the Te Reo o te Taiao session we will discuss tohu (signs) that we can see and observe from the natural world. We will link these observations back to mātauranga māori and discuss how climate change compromises these indigenous knowledge systems.
Nau mai, haere mai. Register here.
Join this online webinar; Activate Your Influence: Sustainable Leadership in NZ. The latest research on sustainability professionals in New Zealand has highlighted training as a key need. What we need is leaders. The research also spotlighted relationship building, communication skills and influencing skills as the hot items for this career.
Thursday 11 July 2024Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Register here: https://events.humanitix.com/activate-your-influence-sustainable-leadership-in-new-zealand
Sharing Success Stories
Foundation North has been trialling a new model of grantmaking – participatory grantmaking – which puts people who are affected by decisions in a position to influence and support decision-making. It enables power sharing, simplified compliance processes and better funder-grantee partnership.
In the 2024 annual report quantitative data, 33% of survey respondents said they have a Māori engagement plan or policy in place and several of our signatories have mana whenua endorsed trustees on their board. All signatories expressed a commitment to improving cultural competency and meaningful engagement with local whānau, hapū and iwi.
Rātā Foundation, in 2022, granted The Nature Conservancy $754,007 to support the delivery of the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance (KMTT) strategy. The grant has supported the strategy to deliver the best possible conservation outcomes for people and nature in the Te Tau Ihu region.
“Mātauranga Māori and iwi aspirations and priorities are integral to the Alliance. The collaboration from all partners is already making a difference in tackling our challenging environmental issues,” says Ngāti Tama ki te Taihu Trust General Manager and KMTT Co-Chair Hemi Sundgren
Rātā Foundation often hears from organisations we fund, that they want to do their bit for climate change, but it's not easy to know where to start.
Do you want to know how you can simply and effectively measure and reduce your organisation’s emissions?
Do you want to be better prepared for dealing with the effects of climate change?
Are you thinking about how small steps today can make a big difference to Aotearoa’s future?
In partnership with Terra Nova Foundation, Rātā Foundation is offering a FREE programme to support community organisations with the know-how and tools to start their climate journey.
Ngā mihi o te wā
We would love to hear from you! Please reach out to share any learnings, stories, news or useful resources. We would love to socialise this with the network. Please continue to follow us on socials & if you’d like to have a kōrero, whakapā mai.
Ngā manaakitanga, Arohanui and Esther
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