The presentations and posters from the Sustainable Health Sector Network conference are now available at 2021 Sustainable Healthcare and Climate Health Aotearoa Conference website (otago.ac.nz)

OraTaiao recognise and agree that the Resource Management Act (RMA) is in urgent need of renewal, modification and updating. Our natural and built environment is a significant factor in the development of non-communicable diseases in Aotearoa, and with these responsible for 89% of all deaths in Aotearoa and for an estimated 7,000 premature deaths of New Zealanders between the ages of 30 and 70 in 2012^[1]. It similarly influences our climate change emissions via transport choices, energy use and farming. Planning for climate change adaptation is now inevitable, and this will be an essential component of all three Acts which will replace the RMA, not just the Climate Adaptation Act.

We have three overarching points to make in our feedback

• Overall, the Exposure Draft of Natural and Built Environments Bill is encouraging and a significant improvement on the existing RMA.
• We recommend that the specific consideration of health and wellbeing (as distinct from wellbeing alone) be incorporated in the Exposure Draft. There is insufficient focus on the impacts of the natural and built environment on health.
• We recommend that the role of te ao Māori be strengthened and centralised within the Bill. At present the Exposure Draft merely gives “greater recognition” to te ao Māori.

These points will be further expanded on below in our feedback on the Reform Objectives, Blueprint for Reform, and the Exposure Draft itself.

[1] Bullen C et al. (2015) ‘Targets and actions for non-communicable disease prevention and control in New Zealand’. NZMJ. 128: pp 55-60.

Read the full submission here

OraTaiao: NZ Climate and Health Council strongly supports the recent call by Forest & Bird, Greenpeace, the Environmental Defence Society, and Choose Clean Water urging Government to limit freshwater nitrate levels to less than 1mg/L.

"This is a perfect example of where public health, ecological, and climate concerns overlap," says Dermot Coffey, Co-convenor of OraTaiao, "and where setting and achieving a safe limit on nitrate levels will benefit all three simultaneously."

MEDIA STATEMENT, 8 July 2021

“New Zealand’s ranking of zero points on the Global Climate and Health Alliance health scorecard for climate commitments sounds the siren for urgent action,” says Dr Dermot Coffey, Co-convenor of OraTaiao: NZ Climate and Health Council. The GCHA today publicly released the climate health scorecard for the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of 66 countries with NZ sharing bottom place with just 3 others.  

OraTaiao submission, 24 June 2021

The health and wellbeing co-benefits of climate change mitigation strategies that increase active and public transport are well documented. These co-benefits need to be elevated within Hīkina te Kohupara to become a central focus of the transport system transformation.

Read full submission here

Christchurch, 9 June 2021 -- Responding to today’s release of the Climate Change Commission’s advice to the government on New Zealand’s climate ambitions, OraTaiao called on Minister for Climate Change Hon. James Shaw to safeguard the health of Aotearoa and step up to our fair share when the world meets in Glasgow this November to keep human-adaptable 1.5 degrees warming within reach.

Simply going by the 2021 Budget, one wouldn’t know our government has declared a climate emergency; rather it was another disappointment in a long string of underwhelming Budgets, said Dr Dermot Coffey, Co-convenor, OraTaiao: NZ Climate and Health Council.

Please read OraTaiao's response to the 2021 Budget.

OraTaiao submission, 2 May 2021

Read full submission here.