The following appeared in the “In Brief” section of the Weekend NZ Herald of 14 June 2014
Clarification A message from Lucy Lawless in yesterday’s edition said Standard & Poor’s had given New Zealand a ‘ D’ for projected creditworthiness. We’re happy to clarify that was a figure of speech rather than referring to D for Default. The comment referred to a table ranking 116 countries by vulnerability to climate change. New Zealand was 72nd, between Mongolia and the Dominican Republic, about four- fifths of the way down the list.
This is a clarification to Lucy’s editorial
You can find out more about Lucy’s guest editing on the NZ Herald on AUSXIP Lucy Lawless NZ Herald Subpage
Editorial by Lucy Lawless
13 June 2014 Issue of NZ Herald
A hundred times I tried to turn down the guest editorship. But eventually their persistence and my hunger for new challenges won out. And maybe I could do some good? I canvassed interesting people I know for great untold stories in their field. I was inundated with suggestions. But in the end, you can only do what’s authentic for you. I have always been a cheerleader in the fight against child abuseand neglect. Likewise, climate change, which just proves that child neglect is intergenerational. Given that Standard & Poors recently gave NZ a ‘D’ for creditworthiness owing to our vulnerability in the face of climate change and an ageing population, the major parties might want to reflect on their choice to ignore our lack of preparedness. They risk looking like denialists, stuck in the dark ages or worst of all, deep in the pocket of supra-national oil companies who are concerned about no one’s survival but their own.
Yep, climate change is blowing into town like the Whore of Babylon — and she wants her money! Unfortunately, so does everybody else. No lightbulb or factory to change. I’ve always thought that enlightened self-interest would light the way forward but evidently blatant self-interest is the only force that actually works in the world of business. So, instead of me bleating on about the catastrophic climate change, only we have tried, when highlighting issues, to present workable solutions as suggested by people who actually know what they’re talking about. Dairy farmers are doing great work cleaning up farming practices. To be fair, the driving force is not concern re climate change but low input farming is definitely better for the planet. Because of our ageing population and straitened hospital budgets, I wondered if it would be a case of geriatric the time I was 64. Happily, the good folks at the Starship Foundation are showing how we are all going to be better off by factoring social profit into the accounting. It’s a formidable case of a stitch in time.
We want to be encouraging of emergent technology and research. Research doesn’t sound sexy but by collecting and sharing valid data, we feed into the world knowledge bank and eventually it results in better outcomes, better remedies. It’s a tricky world but good things are happening. Believe it.