bCasts

Welcome to the latest addition to the Tuesday Wire: Green World! A segment run by bfm news team-ers Sara, Leilani & Max, Green World will dive into the eco-future  — uncovering everything from niche research topics, strange and interesting tech innovations, and the latest environmental developments from across the globe.

This week, the first ever Overshoot Conference will take place in Austria, where climate experts from around the world will come together to discuss how climate targets can be recovered as we head toward exceeding 1.5 degrees of warming. 

New Zealand Climate Change Commissioner Dr Andy Reisinger, who will be attending the event, says the global capacity to respond to this urgent issue “depends on collective social and political will”.

Last week’s UN Climate Summit also saw numerous political leaders speaking to global climate commitments, in particular in the lead up to COP30. 
US President Donald Trump denounced scientific evidence on the urgency of climate change, Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo called for urgent climate action.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New Zealand spokesperson Carolyn Schwalger called for refreshed commitments to international cooperation on climate solutions, and Albanese specifically called out isolationist decision-making across the globe.

In the first interview with Dr Andy Reisinger, Host Sara talks about the Overshoot Conference and global climate action. 

When it comes to a global response to climate impacts, UN Chief of International development Achim Steiner has said that an observed increase of national defence spending has detracted from critical investment. 
University of Auckland Management and International Business professor Sasha Maher who has engaged with research on climate finance, spoke to Sara about the financial obligation of individual states, towards climate solution.

For Dear Science this week, our expert, Dr Cushla McGoverin speaks with us about a crafty way to fix broken bones, an unusual surgery to restore vision, and a long extinct New Zealand penguin species.

These School Holidays at MOTAT, test your communication skills, become a Pilot of the Future and see automatic tech take off!

Thanks to MOTAT, the museum inspiring the innovators of tomorrow!

Yesterday, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk announced changes to the earthquake-prone building regulations that will remove nearly 3000 buildings from the classification register.

Previously, buildings would have to meet a 34%NBS (new building standard) threshold to predict likelihoods of withstanding seismic action. The new system instead prioritises identifying structures that pose a higher risk to human life. Alterations seek to measure risk in a manner that balances safety with more affordable and realistic remediation action for existing properties.

Producer Jasmine Gray spoke to Dr. Megan Boston, Senior Lecturer for Civil Engineering, at the University of Waikato about what the new quake-prone building regulations mean for Aotearoa’s community safety and heritage.

The government has announced their plan to repeal the Holidays Act in an effort to make the application of leave entitlements for workers easier to calculate — an issue which has been estimated to have resulted in more than $2 billion in remediation payments to workers for miscalculated entitlements. 

But critics including from Labour and the Greens say the changes will see some workers lose protections, especially when their hours defer from the traditional employment arrangement.

Submissions on the Electoral Amendment Bill reveal that many New Zealanders believe the changes will disenfranchise voters and negatively impact democratic participation. 

The proposed changes in the bill include removing the ability to enrol on voting day, banning prisoners from voting, and disallowing the provision of food and drink at election booths.

Over the weekend, Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ announced that New Zealand does not officially recognise Palestinian statehood, going against the decisions of countries like Australia, the UK and Canada.

Peters said that, at this stage, such a decision might legitimise Hamas, but that the government will take a ‘when, not if’ approach to the issue.  

Wire Host Sara spoke with National MP Carl Bates about all of these topics, starting with the Holidays Act