Climate Matters

The inspirational young (mostly!) people at Lighthouse Aotearoa - A great collection of user-friendly ways to engage with climate - From the “can you believe it?” files 1: listening to the soil and to animals walk - Announcing our Valentine’s Day “Love letter to the World” poetry competition - From the “Can you believe it?” files 2: who owns the Arctic Ocean? - A hotter Tip for a Cooler Planet - Even more on the great cost/benefit ratio of cycling infrastructure - An insightful retrospective from a lifelong journalist https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/climate-matters-144- https://www.lighthouseaotearoa.org.nz/ https://www.resilienz.co.nz/love-letter https://mailchi.mp/dbd69ed80913/talking-climate-now-in-your-inbox-10353891 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnQ6BbAl3m4 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/05/agriculture-revolution-soil-farming-earth-rover-program https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/climate-matters-145 https://youtu.be/8sa7uh192r0 https://www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/public-support-investing-urban-cycleways-outweighs-opposition-national-survey https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/28/after-a-career-as-an-environment-writer-heres-what-i-have-learned

Climate Matters is an audio version of Resilienz Ltd's Climate Matters newsletter, that gives intriguing insights into climate breakdown and climate recovery.

Big issues - Nuclear power: different year, same strategy - “The Story of Everything” - Horse meat revisited (briefly) - Dancing with the Devil: the crazy cost of our indulgences (mid-length read) - Engineering the Earth: time to think the unthinkable? (Longer read) - Quiz: what is SAI? https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dr-mike-joy-8a188b255_in-this-crazy-world-of-delusion-the-carbon-activity-7394928956006723584-cki9 https://e360.yale.edu/features/hannah-ritchie-interview https://www.airbus.com/en/products-services/commercial-aircraft/global-market-forecast https://www.transportenvironment.org/articles/luxury-cruise-giant-emits-10-times-more-air-pollution-sox-all-europes-cars-study https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN8zvljc5EQ https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/1510/global-effects-of-mount-pinatubo

Quiz: “What is Kaya decomposition”? - Food for thought: Hannah Ritchie on nuclear power and lots more - Thought for food: something to ruminate on - Big questions we’re not asking - A glimpse into COP30 and “PreCOP” in Brazil - Are plug-in hybrids plug-in hype? https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/climate-matters-142 https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/methane-targets-special https://e360.yale.edu/features/hannah-ritchie-interview https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0737080618306452 https://www.tastingtable.com/1269886/tried-horse-meat-my-thoughts/ https://www.agresearch.co.nz/news/dairy-beef-offers-potential-for-significant-emissions-savings/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X20307976 https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/ https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/climate-matters-134 https://natehagens.substack.com/p/the-great-simplification-19-simon https://freshfm.co.nz/programme/climate-matters/ https://www.transportenvironment.org/articles/smoke-screen-the-growing-phev-emissions-scandal https://robbieandrew.github.io/GCB2025/ https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/16/plug-in-hybrids-pollute-almost-as-much-as-petrol-cars-report-finds

COP 30 – more personal dimensions – The NZ delegation – Aboriginal/indigenous communities including a Māori youth delegation – feature themes and topics – Finance and local government – the selection process for next year’s COP 31.

COP30 – contentious issues – The fossil fuel lobby – Nuclear power- geoengineering

The Lighthouse Aotearoa climate group – Reaching out to peers on climate – Education for climate – The intergenerational challenge – Future projects for Lighthouse Aotearoa – Five spells with a magic climate wand https://www.lighthouseaotearoa.org.nz/

The Lighthouse Aotearoa climate group – The Future Council Film – Lighthouse Aotearoa – Past projects – the climate camp with NGC – Climate outreach beyond Te Tauihu https://www.lighthouseaotearoa.org.nz/

COP 30 – The fire – The general structure of COP – the physical layout – Daniela’s role – NZ gets “Fossil of the day” award

- Downstream forestry consequences of Tasman’s devastating storms - Another nail in the coffin of the ETS - The great NTCF Climate Action Festival is almost here! - From the “can you believe it?” files - shark dentistry anyone?! - A not-what-you-expect infrastructure litmus test - A hotter tip for a cooler planet - StatsNZ and the inequity of “no additional warming” methane policy https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/climate-matters-141 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/06/carbon-offsets-fail-cut-global-heating-intractable-systemic-problems-study https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1597592/full https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2025-9-22-abundance-and-the-infrastructure-litmus-test

Climate Matters is an audio version of Resilienz Ltd's Climate Matters newsletter, that gives intriguing insights into climate breakdown and climate recovery.

Daniela Ramirez in Brazil for at COP30 – the atmosphere ahead of COP30 - her meeting with Jacinda Ardern and Christiana Figueres – the Earthship Prize event – Adelaide bidding for COP31 – new emphasis on action rather than negotiation – the Brazilian concept of Mutirão, https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/outrage-optimism-the-climate-podcast/id1459416461 https://earthshotprize.org/winners-finalists/2025/

A long read on an important matter: NZ’s newly released methane targets – “rotten mutton dressed up as lamb” - a personal message to the farming community - why is rapidly cutting methane critically important? – the deceptive innocence of “no additional warming” - backtracking on the world stage - might the PM and Minister plead ignorance and deserve the benefit of the doubt? https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/methane-targets-special https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-sets-methane-targets-2050 - https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/74/12/812/7808595?login=false https://pce.parliament.nz/publications/letter-to-dairynz-beef-plus-lamb-nz-and-federated-farmers-about-submission-on-agricultural-emissions/ https://environment.govt.nz/assets/news/Methane-Science-and-Target-Review-Terms-of-Reference.pdf - https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/17/2641/2025/ https://biogenicmethane.org/#letter

Cycling special - Simon Clark, Jon Foley and Project drawdown’ quest for cost-effective climate strategies - Ralph Chapman research into NZ provincial towns - Protected Bicycle Lanes Protect the Climate in the US - Waka Kotahi Cycling Action Plan - How the past holds secrets for our future: Marc Daalder’s echo of “The Ends of the World” - Fresh warnings on an emerging insurance crisis - Long read: balancing opex carbon and capex carbon https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/climate-matters-140 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReXaS4QausQ&t=1124s https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29751618/ https://itdp.org/publication/protected-bicycle-lanes-protect-the-climate/ https://nzta.govt.nz/resources/waka-kotahi-cycling-action-plan https://newsroom.co.nz/2021/10/26/how-past-climates-hold-secrets-for-our-future/ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-12/woodside-north-west-shelf-decision-murray-watt-pilbara/105758850 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/03/climate-crisis-on-track-to-destroy-capitalism-warns-allianz-insurer https://e360.yale.edu/features/climate-change-home-insurance https://www.building.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/getting-started/building-for-climate-change/whole-of-life-embodied-carbon-assessment-technical-methodology.pdf https://d39d3mj7qio96p.cloudfront.net/media/documents/BRANZ_RN_zero-carbon1.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfLx377-bOw

The second interview with scientist Jim Sinner - A more detailed look at the Swap One campaign – how it works – prizes – joint employee/employer initiatives - The companion Travel Safe scheme for schools - Jim’s prior work at Cawthron Institute – the magic climate strategy he would conjure up with a magic climate strategy wand www.swapone.nz www.resilienz.co.nz

First after LG elections but recorded before the results were known – From the ”can you believe it?” files: beer and cattle decarbonise each other – The answer lies in the soil: a Country Life special – “The Ends of the World” and amazing not so new book I couldn’t put down – “The Walrus Movement”: an unexpected reality check from Nate Hagens – Energy from heaven not hell: Bill McKibben on photovoltaics – a deeper dive on fossil fuel percentages https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/ https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/climate-matters-139 https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/countrylife/2025/full-show-country-life-for-29-august-2025 https://www.soil-hub.org.nz/ https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9MmJkkv780 https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/ https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/podcast/frankly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkIedVEkQZU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejRfnSrY0ok https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fossil-fuels-share-energy?tab=line&time=earliest..2024&country=~OWID_WRL - https://ourworldindata.org/energy-substitution-method https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uXYq_a26_U https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/inefficiency-ice https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/12/7098

Jim Sinner discusses the newly-launched Swap One climate initiative – origin of the idea – how it works – the sort of climate and transport benefits it might bring - how to get involved www.swapone.nz https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/ https://www.resilienz.co.nz/climate-matters

Bottom trawling called out in Nelson protest - Are we on a fools’ errand with energy for data centres? Voting goto CM of the 8th September - links to experts on local government and the climate crisis - Susan Krumdiek Clip 1 - Shane Jones sings from the same energy songsheet as Donald Trump - Susan Krumdiek Clip 2 - The missing answer to “what is hydrogel bioink?”– a longer read on “ruminants and agriculture" https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/climate-matters-138 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(25)00134-2/fulltext https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/570835/greenpeace-protesters-arrested-after-boarding-fishing-vessel-in-nelson https://www.visualcapitalist.com/how-much-power-do-data-centers-use/ https://tupa.gtk.fi/julkaisu/bulletin/bt_416.pdf https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/ai-footprint-august-2025 https://climatehuman.substack.com/p/this-is-the-coolest-summer-for-the https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/562355/power-prices-rise-faster-than-rate-of-inflation https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/trump-is-shockingly-dumb-about-electric https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/reinvigorating-americas-beautiful-clean-coal-industry-and-amending-executive-order-14241/ https://www3.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/document/HansS_20250522_047940000/jones-shane https://www.resilienz.co.nz/climate-matters-podcast-climate-and-councils

A wider view – Tangata whenua and indigenous wisdom – changes to forestry practices in the region – can tourism be climate friendly? – A just transition – where to next for Rachel Sanson?

Climate Matters is an audio version of Resilienz Ltd's Climate Matters newsletter, that gives intriguing insights into climate breakdown and climate recovery.