climate change, climate action interventions, and what we can do

The IPCC roadmap towards a safer climate future shows us the path we can all take to reduce net emissions. There are a number of mitigation options that can be taken by climate change conscious citizens but the majority of mitigation actions will need to be taken by governments and industry. Focusing on what we can do as individuals can alleviate, to a small degree, the anxiety that many people are feeling and the sense of hopelessness that can become overwhelming.

When looking at IPCC reports it’s easy to become despondent, and as articulated by a high school student in Auckland recently, experience “a low grade panic at all times” which has been described as eco-anxiety (Mathias & McLean, 2023). This article looks at some positive actions nationally and globally, and also addresses some of the issues for midwives who have been asking what difference they can make in their personal and working lives. Change is urgent and we need to act now to ensure we can secure a liveable future for future generations.

Climate change is our new life-experience reality, and we are now living with a global surface temperature at 1.10C above pre-industrial levels (IPCC report, 2023). We see the reality of this in more frequent and more intense weather events which have negative impacts on our environment and people throughout the world. The road to zero emissions is long and challenging but it’s still possible to get there.

Climate change is our new life-experience reality, and we are now living with a global surface temperature at 1.10C above pre-industrial levels.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ACTION – SELECTED KEY INITIATIVES ENERGY SYSTEMS

Te Tari Tiaki Pūngao (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority) is working towards a sustainable energy system within Aotearoa. About 40% of New Zealand’s emissions come from burning fossil fuels for heating, for transport or for manufacturing. Becoming carbon neutral requires an urgent move away from this fossil fuel usage and an increase in the use of renewable energy systems such as solar, wind and small scale hydropower.

National

• 40.7% of the primary energy in Aotearoa New Zealand was from renewable sources in 2021.

• The government has set a target of 50% of total final energy consumption to come from renewable sources by 2035 - it currently sits at 28.4%.

• Wind turbines generated enough electricity to power 360,000 homes and more windfarms have been established.

International

• About 30% of the world’s energy consumption comes from renewable sources.

• An Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) report found that Australia broke records for renewable energy activity and low energy demand. This created recordlow greenhouse gas emissions during the last three months of 2022.

Industry And Transport

There is a need for both industry and transport businesses to move towards mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This involves reviewing production processes, and the electrification of transportation systems such as electric and hybrid cars, trucks, railways, buses, and air transport.

National

• Air New Zealand has signed a letter of intent to purchase 23 Alice electric planes. This is part of New Zealand’s plan to provide zero-emission flights by 2026. The country

LIST OF MITIGATION OPTIONS FROM THE LATEST IPCC REPORT

Wind energy

Solar energy

Bioelectricity

Hydropower

Geothermal energy

Nuclear energy

Carbon capture and storage (CCS)

Bioelectricity with CCS

Reduce CH4 emission from coal mining

Reduce CH4 emission from oil and gas

Carbon sequestration in agriculture

Reduce CH4 and N2O emission in agriculture

Reduced conversion of forests and other ecosystems

Ecosystem restoration, afforestation, reforestation

Improved sustainable forest management

Reduce food loss and food waste

Shift to balanced, sustainable healthy diets

Avoid demand for energy services

Efficient lighting, appliances and equipment

New buildings with high energy performance

Onsite renewable production and use

Improvement of existing building stock

Enhanced use of wood products

Fuel efficient light duty vehicles

Electric light duty vehicles

Shift to public transportation

Shift to bikes and e-bikes

Fuel efficient heavy duty vehicles

Electric heavy duty vehicles, incl. buses

Shipping - efficiency and optimisation

Aviation - energy efficiency

Biofuels

Energy efficiency

Material efficiency

Enhanced recycling

Fuel switching (electr, nat. gas, bio energy, H2)

Feedstock decarbonisation, process change

Carbon capture with utilisation (CCU) and CCS

Cementitious material substitution

Reduction of non-CO2 emissions

Reduce emission of fluorinated gas

Reduce CH4 emissions from solid waste

Reduce CH4 emissions from waste water

Net lifetime cost of options: is partnering with four aircraft makers to develop zero-emission demonstrator flights using electric, green hydrogen, and hybrid technologies.

• Electric Trucks Reliance Transport has commissioned two battery-powered electric trucks that will take to the road in New Zealand. The vehicles are suitable for short to medium-haul trips and have a range of 180 kilometres. The trucks will cart containers and steel products around port and freight networks.

• The number of electric cars in New Zealand has been increasing with 41,203 vehicles with some form of electrification sold in 2022.

International

Continuing with the ‘business as usual’ transport approaches was described as not being able to accommodate the sharp demographic changes that are forecast, in a transport report by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2021). Sustainable transport is central to sustainable development, transport solutions do exist, and the right policies and investments will bring much needed change. These include:

• Subsidised transport initiatives, such as a project in India which provides free travel to women, supports sustainable transport and enables lower income women to achieve better safety and improved productivity (United Nations, 2021).

• China plans to expand its electric vehicle charging network by 50% and India is aiming to transform its rail system to net-zero emissions by 2030 (United Nations, 2021).

• The United States has a climate plan that promotes zero emission vehicles and increasing fuel economy standards (United Nations, 2021).

CITIES, SETTLEMENTS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

N2O = Nitrous Oxide; CH4 = Methane; AFOLU = Agriculture, Forestry & Other Land Use; H2 = Hydrogen; CO2 = Carbon Dioxide

Urban areas can make a major impact on emission reduction through consideration of land use – ensuring compact use, co-location of jobs and housing, supporting public emission-free transport and encouraging personal mobility (cycling & walking for those people able to do this). This will involve using efficient building designs, and low-emission materials for building. Another concept now being discussed as a way to mitigate heavy rainfall is the use of ‘Sponge cities’. This concept incorporates the use of green roofs, rain gardens and permeable pavements. The idea being that these systems will absorb, capture and reuse rainwater. They include the need to have more green space and trees incorporated into urban design.

Greening The City Aotearoa

• There is a growing awareness in Aotearoa of the importance of green cities, with individual cities undertaking various initiatives to improve urban greening, and increase green elements into city spaces. Unfortunately it has been reported recently that Auckland and Hamilton have lost up to a third of their green spaces in recent years (Cardwell, 2023). This demonstrates the tension between much needed housing development and the loss of private residential land. Accommodating population growth but also staying focused on the need to retain and/or create new urban green spaces is the way forward. Equal prioritisation of network infrastructure and green spaces was reported as a priority (Cardwell, 2023).

• The New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities is an interdisciplinary research centre which provides evidence-based solutions for urban development challenges, and their current focus is on maximising wellbeing from public housing (NZ Sustainable Cities). This organisation works with all New Zealand universities, and many other partners including ACC, Kāinga Ora, MBIE, and Stats NZ. The absence of Te Whatu Ora, Te Aka Whai Ora and the Ministry of Health from the list of partners may indicate a failure to take into account health as a key issue for sustainability and wellbeing.

Greening The City International

• Green Cities is a campaign running in 13 countries. It focuses on the importance of public green space in terms of the positive effects on biodiversity, climate, wellness and air quality to ensure cities are better places to live and work (Green Cities Europe). The initiative aims to encourage the greening of public spaces by providing information and ideas based on science, research and technical expertise. Green Cities helps professionals who have roles in city and landscape planning.

CITIZEN ACTION – WOMEN ARE KEY

• On International Women’s Day 2023 the United Nations sent out a media release about the importance of women and how they play a vital role in tackling climate change (United Nations, 2023). They noted that women are often left out of climate change conversations despite being half the world’s population.

• Indigenous women are described as having invaluable knowledge and expertise that can help build resilience and help create a sustainable future (United Nations, 2023).

• Women are usually the first responders to natural disasters in communities and can contribute to the recovery needs of their families (United Nations, 2023).

• The first Gender Action Plan to support gender-responsive climate action calls for women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation in the international climate process and climate action (United Nations, 2019). This was developed because of the recognition that women commonly face higher risks in responding to disasters and bear a greater burden from climate change impacts.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Looking at the list of mitigation options from the IPCC Report, there are a number of actions we can all take to help reduce net emissions. In terms of what we eat, taking more care with our food systems in terms of minimising food loss and waste, and making some incremental shifts to more balanced and sustainable diets that include increasing our plant based ingredients and reducing meat intakes, will help.

How we get around is another area where we can consider changes. Simple changes like reducing car trips, and petrol free days. When we purchase a car – we could consider moving to electric or hybrid vehicles, and if possible e-bikes, and bicycle use. The Call the Midwife TV series in the UK inspired a group of midwives working for NHS Grampian in Elgin, and now they have been given access to electric bikes supported by Sustrans, who are a charity working to make it easier for people to walk, wheel and cycle. Sustrans have supplied some of the midwives in the Elgin team with bikes with a large fixed carrier and two large panniers, helmets, high visibility jackets, and locks. Midwives have been enjoying the exercise as well as supporting sustainable travel (NHS Grampian, 2022).

Recycling is also important, as is looking at more efficient lighting, appliances and equipment. This can be in our own homes and we can also be advocates in our workplaces.

One further very important action we can do is to continue to put political pressure on our governments to take meaningful action.

Conclusion

The 2022 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change (Romanello et al, 2022) described the world as being at a critical juncture, and that a health-centred response to the crisis would still provide an opportunity for a low carbon and resilient future, and avoid climate change health harms. As midwives we are all a part of that health-centred response. The Lancet Countdown report is described as showing “the direst findings yet”, with 1.1˚C of heating “increasingly undermining every pillar of good health and compounding the health impacts of the current Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical conflicts.”

On a positive note, despite the false solutions to climate change which have been promoted, such as carbon trading and offsetting, and the underrepresentation of women at the discussion and decision making climate action tables, the first multilateral environmental agreement to include an explicit reference to the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment was made at COP27 late last year (Bidga, 2022). The 2022 Lancet Countdown report also found some “glimmers of hope” with government engagement with health and climate change reaching record levels. As previously noted the largest and much needed gains to be made in the fight against global warming needs to come from industry and government actions; making a smaller but still important difference can be made by individual citizens – including midwivesand this can go some way towards supporting individual and collective wellbeing, and relieving the experience of eco-anxiety. To inspire us further it’s important to celebrate gains, and a report commissioned by The Jump (2022) showed that citizens have more agency than we think, and 25-27% of emissions saving by 2030 will be influenced by citizen action. Making dietary changes and giving up fast fashion were described as significant actions.

Fast climate change mitigation efforts by every country, every sector, and every citizen playing their part is the way forward. As The Jump report said, “There is no one silver bullet, and no one lead actor. We all need action, from all actors NOW.” square

References available on request.

CAROL BARTLE POLICY ANALYST