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This event has been cancelled for now, as our key speaker is unwell. Please reach out with any questions: [email protected]

Matariki and our understandings of climate and environmental change

Join us this Matariki for a very special conversation between Rikki Solomon and Naomi Simmonds on Matariki, the maramataka and understanding climatic and environmental change.

Tuia ki te rangi, Tuia ki te whenua, Tuia ki te moana.
E rongo te pō, E rongo te ao.
It is written in the heavens, upon the land, and the ocean.
And balanced between night and day.

This whakatauākī is used to navigate the environment, aligning what is happening in the movements of the celestial bodies (the sun, moon and stars) with what is happening here on land and at sea. We can read ‘what is happening’ in the wind and tides, and in the behaviour of trees, plants, birds and fish, among other tohu. For Rikki Solomon, our guest speaker, this whakatauākī speaks to our ability to respond to climate change through our relationship with the taiao.

Rikki was raised under the korowai of his grandparents in a little place called Te Hauke. He grew up gardening and farming under the watchful eye of his grandfather Rutene (Charlie) Solomon. He learned the practical application of He Maramatanga Māori, or insight through the Māori calendar. Rikki notes, “The maramataka was a way of life for our tūpuna. It helped govern activities and actions that allowed them to stand firm within their environment as kaitiaki of ‘te taiao’ (the environment).”

We invite you to join us for this, the longest night of the year. Help us mark the winter solstice, Te Ihu o Hinetakurua, and enjoy this opportunity to consider our collective relationship with te taiao in times of rapid change.

This submission is based on the Deep South Challenge: Changing with our Climate experience of funding and delivering expert climate modelling and adaptation research and science. It has been compiled by the Challenge Leadership Team and Engagement Team.

In general, our submission follows the structure of the NAP itself, with a few key differences. Rather than honing in on a single focus area, we respond to each of the three NAP focus areas, including each outcome area. However, as a matter of priority, we also respond to key documents and issues the NAP does not cover sufficiently. These are: Te Tiriti o Waitangi; the Rauora Framework; and the criticality of consultation and engagement. We also respond to the Research Strategy much earlier in our submission than where it appears in the NAP. We believe the Research Strategy is a vital piece of the adaptation puzzle, and deserves far more visibility. We include, separately, reflections that relate specifically to Vision Mātauranga – reflections gathered through research and engagement. In most parts of our submission, we reference relevant Deep South Challenge research. In summary, the entirety of this submission is based on both our research and our engagement experience of the past eight years.

Climate change is no longer a phase we are entering but one we are firmly within. There is compelling evidence of changing climate conditions. Every day there is news of another deluge or stop bank breach. Subtler indications – like the early Pōhutukawa bloom – demonstrate our transition from a more predictable past to a more uncertain future. The pace of securing a united universal response to climate change has been widely criticised with calls to action now adopting a much more urgent tone. Aotearoa is at a crucial point in time where we as a small island nation must decide how bold, how urgent and how transformative we are going to be to address our changing climate today and how to plan and adapt for a more resilient future.

To this end, The Deep South Challenge amplifies the messages clearly stated in the Rauora Framework, 2021, which we have read alongside the Government’s first draft National Adaptation Plan (NAP). This is a significant step in preparing Aotearoa for ongoing climate change and The Deep South Challenge (DSC) welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission on the draft NAP.

We recognise the significant value in having a national adaptation plan that acknowledges and supports the rich and extensive knowledges held within our communities – including tangata whenua, the research community and industry. To create meaningful, relevant and enduring solutions to the climate crisis, the NAP can take a multi-layered approach, acknowledging the impacts of climate change across our social, cultural, environmental and economic fabric, while balancing the need for efficiency and immediacy in the Government’s response.

This submission canvasses the various chapters of the NAP and responds with key messages in relation to each chapter. Under each outcome area, we have also included a Vision Mātauranga section which specifically highlights the unique submission points regarding Māori. In particular, we were looking for evidence that the NAP has drawn from or is underpinned by The Rauora Framework.

Key Submission Points

Our key submission points, below, are elaborated on in this submission document:

• Embedding Te Tiriti as an outcome area would strengthen the overarching framework of the NAP. Rangatiratanga and Kāwanatanga spheres are not evident in the NAP, and the proposed Māori foundation is a “supporting action” towards an objective rather than an objective in its own right. This falls well short of genuine partnership. Along with a reworking of the Vision, Purpose and Goals to reflect the Crown’s Te Tiriti obligations and a stronger commitment to equity – this would provide a strong foundation for the NAP and a consistent reference for how partnership opportunities are framed through the various outcome areas.
• The NAP should show clearly how it has “drawn on” the Rauora Framework. There is a lack of consistency in the language between the two documents. The authority of the Rauora in relation to the NAP must be clarified and strengthened to avoid it being relegated beneath the NAP. As it stands, the relationship between the Rauora and the NAP is vague and lacking substance. The Rauora is a powerful document but under-utilised by the NAP. Failure to genuinely incorporate the recommendations of the Rauora risks the appearance that its commissioning was merely a ‘tick box’ consultation exercise.
• The Research Strategy should be more foundational in the NAP. The Strategy itself requires more safeguards for research that is outside the boundary of “traditional” biophysical science. In the research strategy section of this submission we have included a number of research actions that we believe should inform the NAP, these actions include development of funding, identification of priorities to close climate adaptation knowledge gaps and investment in research that is Māori-led, with a focus on mātauranga and tikanga, community relevant and engaged research and research that also considers the socio-political and economic impacts and opportunities in climate change.
• The provision of and access to climate change data for communities must be prioritised. Alongside this, the need for targeted and appropriate engagement to share information with communities is important to create meaningful change.
• The system-wide actions should be integrated into the front-end of the framework as they respond to the three key focus areas of the NAP. This would give the system-wide actions relevance across all outcome areas.
• There should be greater alignment of the actions against the objectives (perhaps via visual representation). The current layout makes it difficult to connect the actions with the relevant objective(s). Adding context as to how each action works to achieve the relevant objective would also be helpful.
• The NAP should make it clear how adaptation will be embedded and integrated across policy areas in practice. In particular, adaptation-relevant policy and legislation must be developed as a suite, rather than in silos.
• Creating clear adaptation goals that are shared across key areas is important for clarity and shared understanding.
• The NAP must provide much clearer guidance to He Pou a Rangi – the Climate Change Commission on how to measure Government’s performance against and implementation of the NAP. He Pou a Rangi – the Climate Change Commission must also have the ability to carry out such monitoring.
• A broader range of primary sector businesses should be supported in the NAP to consider effective adaptation

Read the full submission here:

Recent weather events in Tairawhiti are at the forefront of Aotearoa New Zealand’s first emissions reduction plan released yesterday. The opening lines of the plan’s foreword by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for the Climate James Shaw acknowledge the months leading up to the publication of the plan were marked by floods in Tairawhiti and drought elsewhere.  

Actions committed to in the plan are being welcomed by local researchers focused on land use, economic impacts, and employment options for Tairawhiti. 

Rangitukia based climate change researcher Manu Papuni-Iles is encouraged by the list of actions to support nature-based solutions. “Our region is vulnerable to climate change both in terms of environmental and economic impacts” says Mr Papuni-Iles. 

Mr Papuni-Iles says it is a big win for the Raukumara and Te Urewera forests from commitments in the plan to maintain and increase carbon stocks in pre-1990 forests. At least 20 million tonnes of carbon are stored in the Raukumara Forest Park that DOC has acknowledged is on the verge of collapse due to introduced pests.

“Official commitments in the plan to protect carbon stored in this ecosystem will help protect what remains of the unique biodiversity of the region” says Mr Papuni-Iles. 

The Government’s commitment to look at opportunities to incentivise and encourage those management activities, including ‘mechanisms to enable the recognition of additional carbon storage for pre-1990 forests’, potentially means significant private investment from the voluntary carbon and biodiversity offsetting markets could help subsidise public conservation efforts in the Raukumara.

“It is great to see the list of actions include incentives for more native afforestation, increasing pest control, and providing protection from flooding and rising sea levels” he says. Mr Papuni-Iles is particularly interested in the commitments in Chapter 2 of the plan that describes how Māori will be involved in planning and action to reduce emissions at both the local and national levels.

Project lead Hunaara Waerehu is an economics student and welcomes the focus in Chapter 3 on an equitable transition through the provision of new jobs in low-emissions industries, support for regions and communities to plan for the transition and the Government partnering with groups including BusinessNZ and the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions to address challenges and opportunities to achieve an equitable transition. 

“It is good to see a commitment to reforming the education and training system to support for people to develop the skills needed for a low-emissions economy through retraining, skill-enhancement opportunities and income assistance to support workers and households” says Mr Waerehu. “If we see more permanent forest replacing farming and logging operations, Tairawhiti will need to be at the front of the line for planning and participating in establishing new industries and associated retraining opportunities.”

Renee Raroa from Toha, a venture designed to attract new investment to support biodiversity, is pleased that the plan aims to address climate change and biodiversity loss together. 

“It’s good news that the plan includes the development of better incentives for restoring native ecosystems, including efforts to use private and public money to support both climate and biodiversity outcomes.”

Chapter 14 of the plan focuses on Forestry, with an emphasis on increasing the restoration of indigenous forests and protecting carbon in pre-1990 forests. Initiatives within this chapter include actions to reduce the cost of native forest establishment and protection, and support for native afforestation and restoration through the Carbon Neutral Government Programme. By 2025, emissions that cannot be reduced under the

Carbon Neutral Government Programme must be offset. The work programme will investigate how offsetting those emissions could promote biodiversity and wider environmental outcomes.

Updating carbon sequestration yield tables for indigenous species with more recent science is also included in the Forestry chapter. The updated tables will better recognise and reward carbon stored by native forests, to encourage native afforestation with a focus on longer term carbon storage, more accurate recording of sequestration rates, and good forest management practices.

The draft national adaptation plan (NAP) is full of cross-references to other plans and legislation. It can be hard to keep up with, so we have collated a reference list to help navigate this confusing landscape.

Recent developments:

• The Emissions Reduction Plan 2022 – 2025. Released 16 May 2022.
• NZ SeaRise released new sea-level rise projections in early May 2022. These will be eventually incorporated into an updated Coastal Hazards Plan. 
• Proposed changes to Emissions Trading Scheme. Consultation closed 22 April 2022. Amendments will be made by September 2022 and come into force in January 2022. 

The suite of RMA legislation:

• Managed retreat legislation will be covered by the proposed Climate Adaptation Act (CAA) which is due to be introduced to the House by the end of 2023.  A first lot of consultation on this has been wrapped into the NAP. Some information is available in this consultation document.
• The proposed Natural and Built Environments Act (NBA), is the main replacement for the RMA, to protect and restore the environment while better enabling development. Second reading of the Bill due in 2022. 
• The proposed Strategic Planning Act (SPA) provides a strategic and long-term approach to how we plan for using land and the coastal marine area. It is meant to be developed alongside the NBA but little information is available publicly.  

Upcoming:

• He Waka Eke Noa. “Working together with farmers and growers on practical solutions to reduce Aotearoa’s emissions and build resilience to climate change.” Pricing system recommendations will be presented to Ministers by the end of May 2022.
• Fisheries Amendment Bill. Submissions due 17 June 2022. Referenced in NAP, “The Bill will allow for more agile and streamlined decision making in response to changes in fish stock abundance, due to the effects of climate change, by enabling development of the pre-set decisions rules.” Expected to be passed 2024. 
• National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity. “Decisions on the release of an exposure draft of the NPSIB will now be made in the first half of 2022“. Page 45 of the NAP states “Implement the proposed National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity.”  
• Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill – This bill restructures the DHB and will establish the Māori Health Authority. It is scheduled to pass its final reading soon. The NAP makes many references to health including “Continue with the reform of the health and disability system.”

Other legislation and work that may be relevant:

• Three Waters Reform Programme. Referenced in NAP “Reform institutional arrangements for water services” p 28. Bill to be introduced to House mid-2022. Entities created by 2024.
• New Emergency Management Act by August 2024. 
• Changes to welfare legislation are alluded to in the NAP.
• Aquaculture Strategy. Implementation of this is mentioned in the NAP.
• Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill. Members bill seeking to repeal and replace the current law relating to Māori land. Has not had its first reading. 
• Natural Hazards Insurance Bill. Updates the Earthquake Commission to a Natural Hazards Commission for insurance post natural hazard events. Report due September 2022. 
• Partial Reviews of the Conservation General Policy and General Policy for National Parks regarding the Treaty of Waitangi. Report put together for the Department of Conservation that proposes fundamental reform to the conservation estate. Consultation on wider conservation reform due at the end of 2022. 

An overview of the Climate Change Commission’s schedule of work can be found here.

This submission is based on the Deep South Challenge: Changing with our Climate experience of funding and delivering expert climate modelling and adaptation research and science. This submission sits alongside the submission by the Vision Mātauranga Engagement Team, Deep South
Challenge: Changing with our Climate to Te Ara Paerangi Future Pathways green paper. We have not commented on other views on the science structure in Aotearoa NZ.

At the onset of the Deep South Challenge, we developed a clear vision, mission, objectives, and research strategy. A large amount of research is needed to prepare Aotearoa for the climate change that is locked in, as well as those impacts which are still uncertain. We invested resource in developing relationships across research institutions, with a strong focus on encouraging interdisciplinary and inter-institution project teams, to reduce silos and competition and increase collaboration for the public good. We also established a standalone engagement research programme, a move which triggered innovation in engagement approaches across the National
Science Challenges. It was important for us to prioritise research (and be clear on what research not to prioritise) given the limited sum of funding in the Challenge.

It took around two years for the Challenge to do this initial work. Currently, two years before the Challenge ends, we are about to finish distributing funds to give enough time for new research projects to be completed and results communicated or engaged with. Important areas such as climate adaptation (and mitigation) need continuity of funding that does not change the funding arrangements and/or institutions every 5 to 10 years.

Nevertheless, the smaller time horizon for the Challenge has encouraged innovation and collaboration in both research and methods for commissioning research.

We found the separation of funding from delivery of research was important. Independent National Science Challenges can assess which organisations can deliver the research required to achieve respective missions. Governance by an independent board also allows for objective investment across appropriate institutions. Contracting with clear deliverables and milestones has meant that we have had good oversight of spending public funding.

We agree that there is “persistent uncertainty about the value of investments” and a recent effort to understand where climate change research funding was being directed (via investment landscape mapping) made it clear that many research institutions and government departments do not keep this information. Furthermore, of the funding information we were able to collate, only $22m of $329m from 2010 to present was invested in projects by Māori, for Māori, quantifying the lack of equity in this aspect of the science system.

Future Crown research funding should not be viewed in a piecemeal way. Other funding, such as the Performance Based Research Fund should also be considered when looking at the future RSI system.

A full copy of our submission can be viewed here.

Tīmatanga kōrero | Introduction

Kōtuia ki te aho rangahau kia mau ai,
whiria te taura mātauranga kia ita
Sew the thread of research to maintain,
plait the rope of ancestral knowledge to bind and sustain.

(Composed by Ruia Aperahama)

This whakatauākī speaks to the deep knowledge, skills and experience Māori communities possess and draw on when responding to the changing world. The whakatauākī formed the basis for our most recent Māori research funding round within the Vision Mātauranga programme in Te Kōmata o te Tonga, the Deep South Challenge: Changing with our Climate. It is these recent experiences we draw on in this submission – as a kind of “case study” – to Te Ara Paerangi: Future Pathways Forward Green paper.

We are grateful for the opportunity to feed into much-needed change in the Research, Science, and Innovation System in Aotearoa, and we understand that this will be one of many opportunities to do so. It is our hope that this process will result in transformations that speak to the needs and aspirations of Māori communities and Māori researchers.

This submission sits alongside the broader The Deep South Challenge: Changing with Our Climate submission to Te Ara Paerangi Future Pathways Green Paper.

Ko wai mātou? | Who are we?

The Vision Mātauranga programme is advised by a Kāhui Māori with the leadership of a Programme Lead, and staffed by two Kaitakawaenga, with the support of the broader engagement team. We recognise the responsibility and obligations we have to Ahi kā, Ahi tere, Ahi taitai, Ahi tahutahu, Ahi whakaene, Ahi kōmau, Ahi hinu, Ahi Kōpae, Ahi kāroa. We want to support the work Māori are already undertaking not just to survive, but to flourish and thrive against a background of broader environmental, social, and global changes.

Within this programme we seek to support organic, creative, innovative and Māori responses to the impacts of climate change. We recognise the diversity of experience, knowledge, and responses to climate change across and within ngā iwi and hāpori Māori.

We are a member of the Rauika Māngai and note that many aspects of our submission are reflected in theirs. We also note that there may be a requirement for a systems change which is reflected in the communities and echoed in the findings of our own internal evaluation. We realise that this will have implications for the Deep South Challenge, but we are poised to work through whatever those implications might be.

Summary of Key Points

Climate change threatens every thread of the fabric of Māori society, and for this reason we believe consideration of climate adaptation research funding must be a part of the MBIE review. Of import here is a piece of internal research recently carried out by our broader Engagement Team, led by our Climate Change Knowledge Broker. We conducted a “landscape mapping” project to review and understand the broad split of research funding within the climate change research space. While a pilot project only, with data limitations, a key finding was that Māori climate research (defined as “by Māori for Māori”) has been and is being underfunded in comparison with other research disciplines.

Any re-design of the science system needs to directly address structural inequity and to empower iwi, hapū and Māori communities to undertake their own research. Mātauranga exists in and of its own right. It is an intellectual tradition, containing robust and innovative research processes and creative solutions to the challenges of the world. The RSI must recognise and provide for this mātauranga, for its own ends and purposes. Furthermore, this space must be protected from the inevitable creep that occurs by researchers seeking to ‘claim’ this space. Historical experience has proven that upholding mātauranga and tikanga Māori, while embracing the benefits of other knowledge systems, allows us to adapt and strengthen ourselves in a world that is forever in motion.

“We must consider how to embed Te Tiriti within the fabric of the research system, in decision making, in our processes, in collecting advice and information, in our workforce, and in research outcomes. We need to consider the diverse ways in which Māori organise as iwi, hapū, whānau, businesses, interest groups, subject matter experts, researchers and as individuals. We need to reimagine how to give life to Māori research aspirations, the right ways to enable mātauranga Māori – Māori knowledge – in our research system and the interface between mātauranga Māori and other activities in the system.”

Green Paper

These aspirational statements in the Green Paper suggest that the possibilities for fundamental change are being offered. Expectations are being raised. Everyone working within the science system, and those who are alienated from the science system, must have an equitable opportunity
to consider and respond to the Paper.

The RSI system needs to do things differently for Māori. This submission prioritises relationships and engagement with Māori communities, mātauranga Māori being invested in and of its own right, the importance of rethinking common research policy and practice at every level and transforming decision making power over research systems and processes to be more equitable and to uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

It is the heart of our submission, based on our experiences and learnings, that power for all decisions about research on Māori must be returned to whānau, hapū and iwi. The structures and processes that are charged with enacting all parts of a reformed science system then must also account for this. Our experience has also told us that research priorities for iwi and hapū are usually on a much longer timescale with deeper and broader reach, in other words are intergenerational and holistic in nature. Defined research priorities or research agendas tend to be responding to a much shorter timeline and assessed against KPIs on an annual or quarterly basis. Impact for Māori research can often be seen over generations and in ways that do not fit the conventional science measures of assessment. Often a research project might ‘end’ but the kaupapa does not.

Key Messages

• Māori communities are on the frontline, in every way, of climate change. Climate change research must be considered urgently and separately within the process of the reform of the RSI sector. The ways in which Māori consider climate change – including as a continuation of colonisation and of other kinds of environmental degradation must be the starting place when building a research system to enable whānau, hapū and iwi to adapt to the drastic changes ahead of us.
• Current underinvestment must not only be reversed, but it must also be significantly ramped up, to provide Māori with all the tools they need – mātauranga and contemporary science – to have agency over their future.
• Challenging common practices embedded within science funding systems and structures requires a commitment to equity. This commitment must be coupled with serious investment and care (time and resource), at every stage, and at all points of decision making.
• The quality of engagement with hapū-embedded researchers is determined by the quality of relationships. Relationships must be genuine (emphasising common connections and shared goals), rather than transactional. Reforming the science system to prioritise relationships and relationality (rather than dealing in transactions of funds, of knowledge, of people) is key.
• Common research funding practices privilege hierarchical and individual modes of working, rather than collaborative and collective (i.e., whānau and hapū) modes. To achieve different (and better) outcomes for Māori (both researchers and research communities), the recognition of and investment in the expertise that exists within Māori communities and structures must be provided for. Rather than privileging individuals and individual merit (e.g., qualification and publication record), a consideration of the collective production of knowledge and of truly collective research must have a place in our research and science future.
• Written proposals and applications – with little to no face-to-face contact with decisionmakers remain the norm and serve some teams better than others. It is unclear if written proposals ensure that the strongest research is funded, or if successful proposals are those best articulated using the conventions of institutional science.
• Despite how inclusive or flexible the RSI system may intend to be (currently), the balance of power to determine and interpret priorities and scope still ultimately lies with the funder/institution. Most parts of the RSI system do not provide for Māori to determine the scope, priority areas or process and criteria of funding. Interrogating power at all levels of the system is a must. As Linda Tuhiwai Smith (a member of our International Science Panel) states: “It [-scientific] research is imbued with an ‘attitude’ and a ‘spirit’ which assumes a certain ownership of the entire world, and which has established systems and forms of governance which embed that attitude in institutional practices. These practices determine what counts as legitimate research and who count as legitimate researchers. Before assuming that such an attitude has long since disappeared, it is often worth reflecting on who would make such a claim, researchers, or indigenous peoples?” (Tuhiwai-Smith 2012, 56).
• Mātauranga Māori is sometimes misunderstood as being any research carried out by Māori researchers. There is also a tendency to make false equivalences between mātauranga and scientific understandings. Mātauranga Māori and Kaupapa Māori research must be prioritised and invested in, in and of its own right, not just as something to be added-on, ‘integrated’ (or even worse, validated) by scientific research.
• Genuine engagement with Māori communities is critical, and achievable, but comes with responsibilities, including:
  • a requirement for sufficient resourcing
  • transparency, openness, and a willingness to challenge common practices
  • not raising expectations that cannot be fulfilled
  • Being responsive, flexible and innovative to find new ways of doing things or to change when needed.
  • a commitment to reciprocity of some kind

• Without serious structural change, altering processes and making changes at the fringes can set Māori up to take responsibility for system failures.
• Māori communities have proven that they are ready and capable of doing high quality and robust research at this level and there is an urgency to make systemic changes to support this to occur.

The start of 2022 has seen a few changes in the Deep South Challenge engagement team. Here we say goodbye to those who have moved on, and introduce you to some new(ish) faces.

Angela Halliday, current Partnerships Director, and Waverley Jones, previous Partnerships Director.

Change in the Partnerships Director role

Waverley Jones, Partnerships Director, has resigned from the Challenge in order to follow opportunities with and for her family in Lake Taupō. Luckily for us, Angela Halliday has returned from parental leave and, along with Phil, is already picking up the Partnership Director work. Particularly for those researchers in our Impacts and Implications programme, you will be hearing from Angela soon.

Change in the Communications role

Meriana Johnson has stepped down from her communications role to spend a full year immersed in te reo Rangatira. We are lucky to have Zoe Heine stepping into Meriana’s shoes. Zoe joins us from NZSeaRise, and is currently undertaking a PhD at Te Herenga Waka in climate storytelling. You’re likely to be hearing from Zoe on one kaupapa or another in the coming months, and can email either Zoe or me with communications questions.

Our other Engagement Team members remain! We are:

Naomi Simmonds and Nadine Hura: Our Kaitakawaenga Māori, supporting our 17 Vision Mātauranga projects (3 existing and 14 soon to be announced).

Kate Turner: Our Climate Change Knowledge Broker, supporting researchers and stakeholders to navigate the complex world of climate data.

Alexandra Keeble: I am still playing a communications role, though working slightly further behind the scenes supporting our team with planning.