Nearly 30 people were at the Pukerua Bay RSA this afternoon for the first of a series of climate change workshops.
Megan Meladonis took attendees through a calculator we could use to calculate our individual climate change impact from our day-to-day activities.
A Paris Agreement goal of limiting global heating to 1.5° above pre-industrial levels needs us all to emit an average of 2.3 tonnes of CO2 by year 2030. This is roughly half the global average of every person on Earth today. Those of us in wealthy countries emit far more than the average. The New Zealand average is over 7 tonnes, and many of us who used the calculator were producing more like 10 tonnes.
This produced some vigorous discussions about what we could do to reduce this – using public transport more, eating less red meat, choosing renewable electricity for power and heating, buying local food such as seasonal vegetables, and food that doesn’t include palm kernel grown where rainforests have been clear felled (difficult when it is present in so many foods).
We took away a lot of good ideas.
The climate action group is collecting resources and will publish them here on this website.
You can also register for the rest of the workshops being held over the next three weekends, or just turn up on the day.
The Circular Economy
13 August: How do we change our economy to design out waste, keep materials in use, and regenerate natural systems?
Recycling and Homemade Cleaning Products
20 August: Take action at home by maximising your recycling and making your own cleaning products — a hands-on workshop.
Emergency Management and Resilience – (followed by an optional shared meal)
27 August: Events will continue to happen — how will we get ready as households
You can just turn up or register online.