Ko Papa Ko Rangi: Up or down?

In this final episode, Indigenous researchers from around Aotearoa gather around the home fires at Pikitū in Waikato to share their experience, knowledge, wisdom and strategies for action. With poetry and deep knowing as opposed to “hope”, we reveal how the dreams of ancestors will soon become reality, as the changing climate forces us to reclaim the past in order to thrive in the future.

Healing from colonisation is a journey of recovery, and it begins with falling in love with home again. In this episode, we travel down the Whanganui river to meet the youngest generation of Indigenous scientists returning to their ancestral lands to keep the home fires burning. It’s not just about going along and planting some trees. It’s about being prepared to defend that place, right through t...

In 2023, Aotearoa was hit by not one, but two devastating cyclones within weeks of each other. The debris choked waterways and smothered the beaches, leading those who have lived on the land for generations to ask why. We follow the trail of destruction in Te Tairāwhiti back through decades of environmentally disastrous land-use decisions, in a race against time to prepare for future events. What’...

When excavators arrived to break ground on ancestral lands at Ihumaatao in 2019, they were met with unwavering but peaceful defence from the people who had lived there continuously for more than 800 years. The call to stand with ahi kaa in the protection of the land ignited the whole nation.  But 2019 was just a speck on the history of all that has happened at Ihumaatao. What’s the connection betw...

What does it take to keep the home fires burning in Aotearoa, and why is the term “land back” synonymous internationally with climate action? Brought to you by Te Kōmata o Te Tonga and The Spinoff, Nadine Hura and Ruia Aperahama talk to Ahi Kaa about how they’re preparing for climate change, and why Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the most powerful tool to advocate for protection for Papatūānuku and Rangi...

Everyone, from homeowners to policy makers, from marae committees to corporations, is asking, “How much will climate change cost us, and how much will it cost to adapt?” But are these the best questions? How are the assessment tools and frameworks we currently use to guide investment considering the “costs” of climate change, or the benefits of adaptation? Do we risk embedding an unbalanced future...

How do we currently price, pay for and transfer “climate risk”? Are these methods reducing danger or delaying what we do about it? Insurance only works when you can afford it; who will be (or is being?) most harmed if we don’t support different ways of protecting ourselves and our communities? This third podcast, with experts from within and outside of the insurance industry, interrogate the role...

To understand the paradigm within which we consider concepts of value, cost and risk, we need to grapple with our past and reconsider our present. Senior economist Shaun Awatere and Te Tiriti educator Jen Margaret look backwards and forwards, exploring how our economy and economic frameworks have evolved and been impacted by past decision-making, and what this could mean for our future with a chan...

The first podcast in our rolling symposium is a conversation with the Pou Tikanga of the Deep South Challenge Ruia Aperahama, and our Climate Change Knowledge Broker Kate Turner, exploring the symposium’s name. Within mātauranga Māori, the concept of “utu” suggests that if something is taken, permission must first be requested. Once taken, something of equal or greater value must be returned. Furt...

Work is underway across Aotearoa to quantify the costs of climate change, including the costs of adaptation or of failure to adapt.  But how do we understand “cost” and will our economic paradigm really lead to effective climate adaptation? If we can’t or don’t quantify/consider some costs of climate change (and benefits of adaptation!), how can we ensure these are factored in our adaptation decis...