The Wire with Castor

Last week, the government announced that they would not be making changes to the way we calculate our emissions targets according to the advice of the Climate Change Commission.

One change that was rejected was the inclusion of international shipping and aviation emissions; the flying and shipping that is so key to New Zealand’s economy, through tourism and elsewhere, is excluded from our emissions targets, despite being a significant chunk of our emissions.

This means, however, that in the face of our Paris Agreement commitments, the Government has opted to keep working with an incomplete picture of our economies emissions.

Monday Wire Producer Alex spoke to Professor of Philosophy at the University of Otago, Lisa Ellis, about these emissions, and what this rejection means for how we present ourselves and neighbours and a member of the international community.

The government has recently rejected all of the Climate Change Commission’s recommendations regarding strengthening the country’s methane targets recommendations.

The commission’s recommendations include strengthening the county’s 2050 methane emission targets, continuing lowering emissions after 2050, and that international shipping and aviation, which represents 9% of the county’s total emissions, should be included within targets.

Despite the commission saying that there would be upfront costs, many of the changes would result in cost savings over time, however, the government rejected this claim.

For our weekly catchup with the ACT Party, News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to MP Simon Court about the government rejecting these recommendations.

A 64-page San Francisco lawsuit has been filed against 10 companies producing highly processed food.

The lawsuit targets Kraft Heinz Company, Post Holdings, The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestle USA, Kellogg, Mars Incorporated, and others, accusing these companies of using harmful practices, such as making these products addictive in nature.

News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to Boyd Swinburn, a Professor of Population Nutrition and Global Health at the University of Auckland and Co-Chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa about San Francisco's lawsuit, and what we could see as a result here in New Zealand.

A project funded by the Health Research Council (HRC) has spotlighted the significant gap in support for Asian rangatahi who’ve experienced sexual violence in Aotearoa. 

Research investigated the experiences of professionals and carers - from counsellors, psychologists, educators, social workers, legal and medical practitioners and more from across the motu.

Increased cultural competency, safety, and support emerged as common themes to a more cohesive cross-sector approach to improve support for survivors.

I spoke to the initiative’s lead researcher, Dr. Ying Wang, Research Fellow at the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation at the University of Auckland about this kaupapa.