Questions on climate change - Children’s Convention from the United Nations
Question 23
Please inform the Committee to what extent the special vulnerabilities and needs and views of children, in particular Maori and Pasifika children and children living in low-income settings, are integrated into policies or programmes addressing the issues of climate change and disaster risk management.
Reply to 23
The Ministry for the Environment (MFE) does not have any climate change policies or programmes that are specifically aimed at addressing the special vulnerabilities and needs and views of children. However, in the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019;
- Clause 5ZG(3)(c) states that a strategy to mitigate the impacts that reducing emissions and increasing removals will have on employees and employers, regions, iwi and Māori, and wider communities, including the funding for any mitigation action must be included in preparing an emissions reduction plan.
- Clause 5ZQ(3)(b) states that in carrying out a National Climate Change Risk Assessment the Climate Change Commission must consider the distribution of the effects of climate change across society, taking particular account of vulnerable groups or sectors.
- Clause 5ZQ(4)(b) states that in preparing the National Adaptation Plan, the Minister must take into account the distribution of the effects of climate change across society, taking particular account of vulnerable groups or sectors.
MFE is currently developing New Zealand’s first emissions reduction plan. The Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019 requires that the plan is released by 31 December 2021. The plan will include policies and actions to transition New Zealand to a low emissions economy, as well as analysis of the distributional impacts that the transition will have and a strategy to mitigate those as required in Clause 5ZG(3)(c).
Climate change and caring for the environment is vital to whānau Māori (Māori families), including tamariki Māori, as reflected in the Whānau Ora outcomes and is intrinsic to how Māori conceive of wellbeing. This view informs how TPK influences government policy and is a key focus of its community investment through the Whenua Māori fund.
