Russell DeborahDr DEBORAH RUSSELL (Labour—New Lynn): Just three months ago we saw school students marching in our streets in the climate strikes: thousands of students here in New Zealand pouring on to the streets of Dunedin of Christchurch of Wellington of Auckland of New Plymouth of provincial centres around the country—thousands and thousands of young people urging us to take urgent action with respect to climate change. In my own electorate students from Lynfield College marched students from Green Bay High School marched—passionate about climate change. In my own home my own two younger daughters my twins aged 17; they were out there marching too urging us in this House to take action with respect to climate change. They say we've got to move beyond the fine words we've got to move beyond the fine sentiments. We must actually take action and that is what this bill is. We are keeping faith with those students. I grew up in the shadow of the nuclear threat as many people in this House did. We grew up in a world where nuclear Armageddon hung over us. We were deeply concerned about it but there was one slight difference between the nuclear threat and the threat that our young people face today. We knew that the nuclear threat could be stopped if only the men with their fingers on the buttons could be sensible—if only the men with their fingers on the buttons could stop themselves—and so far they have. The problem with climate change is that the damage has been done is being done and will not stop. All we can do now is take action to try to keep the worst effects at bay. If we take action now in New Zealand and as a global community then we have a chance of keeping our world livable. That is what this bill is about—giving our children a chance. In the speeches this afternoon many people have talked about climate mitigation—that is reducing the greenhouse gases that are creating a heated world. But this bill concerns itself not just with climate mitigation but also with climate adaptation. Our world is changing already: ask the people of Haumoana and they'll talk to you about how the sea is encroaching and threatening them even further. Look at the increase in storms around the world; look at the effect of rising temperatures; look at the sea levels increasing slowly; look at the increased flooding. We can't stop some of that now so we need to adapt to climate change. The sorts of things we need to adapt to—well every time I drive up State Highway 1 up from Wellington and up through the Horowhenua—up through Mr Nathan Guy's electorate—I look at the low-lying level of State Highway 1 and I wonder: what are we going to do about that road? What about State Highway 1 just before the Harbour Bridge in Auckland—that low-lying road that gets flooded at high tides and through big storms already? What are we going to do about South Dunedin threatened by climate change?Part of this bill concerns itself with adaptation. The Climate Change Commission that is being set up has a responsibility to develop reports around the risks of climate change to assess the risks of climate change and the Minister for Climate Change has a responsibility to respond to those reports from the Climate Change Commission. What's the objective of that? It's to get central government and local governments to assess the risks of climate change and to take action to protect our communities on the beaches along the rivers but also to protect our communities like Te Kūiti and Taumarunui referred to by one of the speakers this afternoon—towns that are dear to my heart. My grandmother was born in Te Kūiti and my family shopped in Taumaranui. These rural and provincial communities are important to us.We've been told this afternoon that if we get this wrong regional New Zealand will not look the same again. That is correct. If we do not respond to climate change if we do not try to adapt to it rural and regional New Zealand simply will not look the same. We do need to respond and we do need to adapt. We've heard about the worries around climate mitigation around the science of climate change. Again one of the important parts of this bill is about the make-up of the Climate Change Commission. It will not be a representative commission; it will be a committee of experts—a committee of people who have the knowledge and the wisdom who can weigh up the conflicting claims of science who can weigh up the evidence and come up with solid recommendations for the Government.I refer you to clause 8 of the bill which inserts new section 5H in the Climate Change Response Act. It talks about the qualities of the people to be appointed to the Climate Change Commission. They are people who must have an understanding of climate change mitigation and adaptation. They are people who have experience in working with local and central government. They are people who have a knowledge of public policy processes. They are people who have technical and professional skills and expertise in the environment and ecology and the social and economic and distributional effects of climate change. They are people who understand Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te Ao Māori. They are people from a range of sectors and industries—all experts. They are the people that we will be relying on—not the grasping at straws of people who have reckons and hot takes on climate change but the people who have the actual knowledge. It is not cherry-picking experts. Anyone can cherry-pick an expert. This commission will prevent us from doing that.Those are two important aspects of this bill that I want to draw the attention of this House to and I think they are actually non-controversial. In finishing my last words on this particular bill as I just reflect on it some of the speakers this afternoon have pointed out that New Zealand is responsible for only a tiny amount of global warming. That's genuinely the case—they're correct—and the implication is Well why us?" The reason is that if we can't no one can. Our energy sector is already 85 percent renewable. The next steps will be hard. Other countries can transition from coal for electricity—we've done that already long ago. The next steps will be hard. We will be showing the world how to take those final few hard steps. In agriculture we already have an agricultural industry that is highly efficient with respect to greenhouse gases but we still need to reduce the emissions from that industry. If we can develop the ways of doing it then we will be showing the world how to do it. That is the leadership that New Zealand will take with respect to climate change. That is how we will fulfil our moral obligations.At the Doha conference in 2012 Naderev Saño the lead negotiator for the Philippines said something interesting. He said referring to storms "We must stop calling events like these natural disasters … It is not natural when science already tells us that global warming will induce more intense storms. It is not natural when the human species has already profoundly changed the climate." There are no disasters; there is just human action which we must take action to mitigate. But compellingly he said this: "If not us then who? If not now then when?" I say to the students at Lynfield College to the students at Green Bay High I say to my daughters I say to all the young people: it is now and it is us. I commend this bill to the House."