Open Day 2025
Is a Political Consensus Around Climate Change Possible?

#2501 Kapiti Coast WEA Open Day
Saturday 15th February, 9:30am - 1pm
Waikanae Baptist Church Hall 286 Te Moana Road, Waikanae

Speakers: Russel Norman and Prof Jonathan Boston

FREE SEMINAR – MORNING TEA INCLUDED

Enrolment by 10th February.  Phone 027 715 3677 or email kapitiwea@gmail.com

Dr Russel Norman has a PhD fromMacquarie University in politics and has been Executive Director of Greenpeace Aotearoa since 2015.  Prior to that he was an MP and Co-Leader of theGreen Party. He has been a campaigner on a wide range of social and environmental issues over several decades in Aotearoa and Australia.  

Russel's experience tells him that there was a time when climate change might be a non-partisan issue.However, the non-partisan climate consensus, to the extent that it ever existed, is no longer. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, the wealthiest global 1% produce twice as much climate pollution than the poorest 50%. Today there is a clear pattern of political partisanship around climate action. In this talk Russel will explore this issue further, look at the evidence and think out loud about what this means for those of us committed to protecting the life supporting capacity of planet Earth. Is there any way back to consensus or is that a fools’ game and we need to focus on building a coalition of the climate willing.

Dr Jonathan Boston ONZM is Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington and has a DPhil from OxfordUniversity UK. Among various appointments, he served on the Expert WorkingGroup on Managed Retreat for the Ministry of the Environment. Among his publications is A Radically Different World: Preparing for Climate Change (2024).He has been editor of VUW Policy Quarterly since 2005, the most recent issue being on Environmental Issues.

In the second session, Jonathan will address some of the critical policy issues surrounding climate change adaptation, including the many technical, financial and political challenges associated with moving large numbers of people, along with related physical structures, in the face of severe floods and accelerating sea level rise. He will draw on recent official reports and give particular attention to the principles that should inform the funding of planned relocation and who should pay.