Advocacy at Parliament climate adaptation hearings

Marie Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive, Kelly Conway, Policy Advisor and Emma Higgins from Rural Women New Zealand presented this week at the Inquiry into Climate Adaptation Inquiry select committee hearings.

We are advocating for Government to:

• Recognise and respect the vital role of rural communities in leading responses to adverse events and developing local adaptation planning

• hold de-briefs with rural communities to learn from their valuable experiences and knowledge, to inform future responses and legislation development

• invest in programmes that support rural communities to address the impacts of climate change, including a call to reactivate the Community Hubs programme and funding

• invest in crucial rural infrastructure (roads, electricity, telecommunications, water supplies) to reduce vulnerability.

The Government needs to ensure that rural infrastructure resilience is a high priority.

You can read the submission here.