Climate Matters

An extended Climate Matters interview with Nathan Surendran

An extended Climate Matters interview with Dr Christina Hood.

Climate Matters is an audio version of Resilienz Ltd's Climate Matters newsletter, that gives intriguing insights into climate breakdown and climate recovery. Low income communities – iron fist in the embroidered glove metaphor - official hypocrisy on supporting poorer communities - need sincerity in attempts to elevate low incomes – the myth of “The Cornucopian Enchantment” under market economy – risk of selective mainstream media and of social media misinformation – challenge of understanding the massive problem of climate change – carbon tax worked well – vested industry obstructing progress – time and the climate crisis – fear and hope – false hope with technology – military apprehension of what is coming – social vaccine for transformation – importance of discussion and “benign uproar” – Substack CM 152 – Community fridge networks – same nitrogen plot different actors – Kiwis in Climate book – Nicola Willis earns herself a Goon Gong – CCC National Climate Risk Assessment – hotter tip for a cooler planet – a quest for “Anthropocene intelligence” in university education https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/climate-matters-152 https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/community/bmore-community-fridge-network-free-food-pantries-baltimore-city-fighting-food-insecurity/ https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/may/12/i-couldnt-breathe-the-sinister-spread-of-frances-killer-seaweed https://www.resilience.org/stories/2024-05-21/how-nitrogen-fertilizers-changed-the-food-system-part-1/ https://www.climatecommission.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/NCCRA/finals/2026-NCCRA-A3-snapshot-v2.pdf https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/australian-journal-of-environmental-education/article/from-miserable-pedagogies-to-anthropocene-intelligence-for-universities-in-the-metacrisis/3F88B03A8ADBE857E634642A21BE6946

Wide boundary thinking – massive artificial nitrogen inputs – why can’t we discuss scaling down our activities – climate policy and narrow boundary thinking – climate myopia –fossil fuel products are everywhere – siloed thinking – student loans and tax- a polycrisis explainer – energy abundance and the climate crisis – Canterbury is the freshwater disaster of NZ – freshwater impacts the harbinger of everything else – the Reality of Everything Symposium https://realityofeverything.org/ https://www.resilienz.co.nz/frontfooting-the-future

Update on climate science – things worsening faster than expected - Antarctic sea ice and deep ocean circulation – need to reduce methane as well as other GHG – “no additional warming” policy and balancing food production with protecting the planet – fossil fuels affect everything - let’s get used to discussing climate https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/climate-matters-153

Helicopter view of climate policy – the atmosphere a dumping ground –super-wicked problem are very difficult for policy – creeping (slow) problems difficult to mobilise action – time is running out – people who cause the problem have least incentive to act – lack of central controlling organisation – mitigation and adaptation – facing tipping points sooner than originally thought - cooling the planet – integrated policy approach – sea level rise – relocate before properties damaged – manifestos should rethink insurance – funding mechanisms for funding retreat – insurance losses $300 bn per annum- weaker insurance decreases resilience – re-election dilemma from sufficiently strong policy – current government gave away cross party agreement – we need political leaders to speak the truth about climate change – highlight the multiple benefits that can come from good climate policy – learn to cope with extraordinary losses https://teherengawakapress.co.nz/products/insuring-the-future-reimagining-home-insurance-in-aotearoa?srsltid=AfmBOorOQJpPYGsjLHGqvFdbwqVhAu1xN0stEUEntk7DPOLep77qXYbL

264 2026 05 11 CM 150 2026 05 03 Put on a jersey before you put on a heater Farewell and thank you to Elbephilarmonie’s “For seasons” – hello to Pecan Pies’s “Rise and Shine” thanks to Uppbeat - The biggest lesson from Artemis II? - “Hoping the ship arrives” isn’t a strategy – Quiz - Minister Mitchell, please explain “complacency” to the PM - The NZ government makes transparency more invisible - A welcome oxymoron: industrial scale regenerative forestry - “From the “can you believe it?” files: US gas price goes negative - Hot energy tip for winter - “CPR for a planet” - a blog recommendation https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a0523d7bff20056c1c5cecd/t/629ff4315f0d4c16f40707b0/1654649906693/RESILIENZ+AND+FRESHFM+LOCAL+BODY+ELECTION+PODCAST+MUSIC+STORY+2022+06+06.pdf https://uppbeat.io/track/pecan-pie/rise-and-shine https://energyandresilience.substack.com/p/hoping-the-ship-arrives-isnt-a-strategy?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=563109&post_id=193926856&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=2riv9&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email https://newzealandenergy.substack.com/p/ceasefire https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/04/12/govt-gives-briefing-on-cyclone-vaianu-response-full-video/ https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/30/govt-reviews-official-information-act-costs-as-requests-spike/ - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/20/hybrid-organ-trees-fungi-union-loblolly-pines-startup-forest-management https://academic.oup.com/ismej/article/16/5/1327/7474139?login=false - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-46792-w https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/215-chris-keefer https://boereport.com/2025/09/15/us-natgas-prices-at-waha-hub-in-texas-fall-into-negative-territory-2/ https://lylel.substack.com/p/cpr-for-a-planet?utm_source=post-email- https://www.resilienz.co.nz/willful-blindness - title&publication_id=6436140&post_id=191583366&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=2riv9&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Beware the “externality” – Externalities and wide-boundary thinking – privatising profits and socialising costs – looking in the mirror – there’s no such place as “Away” – is the PM externalising again? – the politics of externalities – Peak indifference revisited – Surely we can’t extrernalise time – Bean counting and the meaning of life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ745eyky6Q - https://natehagens.substack.com/p/wide-boundary-news-biodiversity-depletion - https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/what-is-the-triple-bottom-line - https://mightyearth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/chocolates_dark_secret_english_web.pdf - https://e360.yale.edu/features/the-real-price-of-a-chocolate-bar-west-africas-rainforests - https://www.undp.org/africa/waca/blog/crumbling-empire-chocolate - https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/590985/fuel-crisis-business-as-usual-luxon-says-but-some-industries-are-struggling - https://energyandresilience.substack.com/p/every-country-in-our-supply-chain?utm_campaign=comment&utm_medium=email&utm_source=substack&utm_content=post - https://jessemulligan.substack.com/p/waiting-for-what?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2309718&post_id=190906362&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=2riv9&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email - https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/591028/watch-pm-christopher-luxon-gives-updates-on-fuel-response-plan - https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/methane-targets-special - https://www.wired.com/story/peak-indifference-on-climate-change/ - https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/ycom-us/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_capital - https://www.bcg.com/publications/2025/investing-in-climate-action

energy and the economy - minerals and the economy - water and the economy - gravel and the economy - the climate crisis and the economy - “the economy” and the economy https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/climate-matters-148 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xW3oveI8Q1xAjlsliozXTDv5yPfx5OSG/view https://www.democracyproject.org.nz/p/democracy-briefing-the-electricity?utm_campaign=email-post-title&utm_medium=email https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2023-02/1.%20Simon%20Michaus-Challenges%20and%20Bottlenecks%20for%20the%20Green%20Transition.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKzsjvRVkik https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/588902/moa-point-disaster-exposes-deeper-problems-public-health-experts-warn https://itbrief.co.nz/story/exclusive-sustainability-expert-warns-nz-must-reassess-data-centre-water-use https://economy.ac/news/2025/09/202509279542 https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/climate-matters-146 https://www.thepost.co.nz/business/360475752/nzs-gritty-problem-insatiable-appetite-gravel https://cdn.ymaws.com/concretenz.org.nz/resource/resmgr/docs/conf/2019/s3_p4.pdf https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/climate-risk-insurance-future-capitalism-g%C3%BCnther-thallinger-smw5f/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2518268-shift-in-the-gulf-stream-could-signal-ocean-current-collapse/ https://www.bas.ac.uk/news/antarctic-bottom-water-shrinking-warming/ https://www.bcg.com/press/12march2025-economic-case-climate-investment https://www.bcg.com/publications/2025/investing-in-climate-action https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/

Obligations of the New Zealand media in reporting the climate emergency – “deliberative democracy 101” – how will deliberative democracy manifest itself in the Reality of Everything Symposium? – how will the key messages ROE symposium be propagated beyond the event itself? – final take-home messages https://events.humanitix.com/the-reality-of-everything-symposium https://www.thelentilintervention.org/ https://anuncommonland.substack.com/ http://www.resilience.org/ https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/

UK government released its hard-hitting “Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security” report – food security in New Zealand – a Polycrisis perspective on the economy – Catherine’s spell form a “Magic Polycrisis Wand”. https://events.humanitix.com/the-reality-of-everything-symposium https://www.thelentilintervention.org/ https://anuncommonland.substack.com/ http://www.resilience.org/ https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/

“Love letter to the World” poetry competition results, citations from the judges and each poem read out – mostly by the poets. https://www.resilienz.co.nz/love-letter https://www.chiasisters.co.nz/pages/ourstory?srsltid=AfmBOopTtCHfHgxmyOrXujEnNicr_iU25yM3LuXNN4Ku-Ve2rgQMZXoW https://www.lighthouseaotearoa.org.nz/

“Small move, Big change” by Caroline Arnold -Kelly Erhart: How can someone so young be so articulate and insightful? -New Zealand expanding the reach of the UK “National Emergency Briefing.” -“Love letter to the world” poetry comp: update on prizes and judges. -Climate-friendly and pocket-friendly eating: having our cake and eating it! -Hotter Tip for a Cooler Planet -Unpicking some of the latest from Surplus Energy Economics. -A Planetary Boundaries update we need but don’t want https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/climate-matters-145 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXeLqr4IlVE&t=5s https://anuncommonland.substack.com/p/welcome-to-the-reality-of-everything https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sa7uh192r0 https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2025/12/grocery-shopping-on-a-budget-may-be-the-surest-way-to-lower-your-emissions/ https://climatemattersnz.substack.com/p/climate-matters-137 https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-025-01270-4 https://www.nelsontasmanclimateforum.nz/ https://mailchi.mp/dbd69ed80913/talking-climate-now-in-your-inbox-10353891 https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/2025/12/21/316-the-class-of-26/