Letter from The Aotearoa Circle’s Rangatahi Advisory Panel: Agri-Adaptation Roadmap Feedback
Our Rangatahi Advisory Panel provided invaluable feedback for the development of our Agri-Adaptation Roadmap. The RAP summarised their feedback in a letter to the Leadership Group and wider agriculture sector, challenging them to be bold and ambitious. We thank them for their well-considered feedback. Read the full letter below.
Back (left to right): Tom Hyland, Ginny Ellis-Kirifi, Moragh Graham, Hana Harris
Front (left to right): Sathosh Chintapatla, Ryan MacArthur, Tyra Begbie, Jill Kwan
The Agriculture Climate Scenarios provide a clear demonstration of the urgency of action. A 1.6°C scenario is important to meet a disclosure requirements and provides a vision of ambition for what we all hope the world may be able to achieve with collaborative action. However, the strategic value is becoming questionable as we enter a world where all evidence suggests we are unlikely to achieve 1.6°C. At this stage of the climate crisis, it is not just informed action that is required, but truly bold, collaborative, and ambitious action that extends beyond iterative gains, and infuses innovative transformation.
The Rangatahi Advisory Panel has recommended:
The Hot House scenario is reinforced as not simply the final of three scenarios but prioritised as the most important as a very real potential circumstance of our (lack of) collective action, communicating the true sense of urgency required.
The actions in the Roadmap clearly and continually link back with these climate scenarios to emphasise the connection between actions we are taking now and consequences we are seeking to avoid, but may be subject to.
That new pathways and inspiring innovation are encouraged within the delivery of these actions, and that the roadmap is not considered an exhaustive list, but a starting point from which more transformative activity can urgently evolve.
We need to be world leaders in how we engage with technological innovation such as modern biotechnology and artificial intelligence so it can be prioritised to unlock truly impactful change.
The entire country needs to be bought along on this journey, in a transparent and meaningful way. This is more than achieving a social license to operate or seeking to attract employees, and instead actively encourages direct and indirect engagement across the entire sector. Not in an attempt to try and convince Aotearoa to engage in individual silos but highlight the critical importance of the challenges and opportunities this sector presents for the country’s future.