Why Climate Change Commission's Jo Hendy is more hopeful than she's ever been
Changemaker profile: Jo Hendy is the chief executive of He Pou a Rangi, the Climate Change Commission, which is responsible for providing independent, evidence-based advice to Government on climate issues. JO HENDY: My inspiration for going into this kind of work came very early for me in the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior, the day after my 9th birthday. I remember seeing the report on the six o'clock news and thinking, what on earth has happened? In my safe little world, a terrorist attack was so unexpected. READ MORE: * Climate change: We must think across the system * Zero carbon without jobs cuts? We are working on it, say business leaders * One Hot Minute: 'I was living my life like I didn't believe in climate change' - scientist Shaun Hendy It started a lot of conversations. I was really surprised to hear one of my teachers admitting he thought it was a good idea; that we needed nuclear weapons. I thought it was a no-brainer that, of course, nuclear weapons were not a good idea, and every adult around me would think that. It really forced me to think more about environmental issues. Then climate change emerged. Thats our existential problem to solve. I come from a family of scientists, so I have always taken an analytical evidence approach to problems. My father, brothers [one brother is the frequently-cited Covid-19 modeller Professor Shaun Hendy], and many aunts, uncles and cousins are all scientists, and my grandmother was an amateur geologist. I followed in their footsteps, doing maths and physics at university. I always enjoyed science, especially the mathematics. My dad is now a retired mathematician, but I grew up playing maths games and solving number problems. The message in the mid-90s was that it wasn't a thing girls did, so there was a degree of me wanting to push boundaries. There werent a lot of female role models, especially at university. Looking back now I can see the barriers, but at the time, it was just me proving that I could do it. Today, my kids have so many more role models, and it's amazing to see what a difference that makes. Climate change appeared on my radar in the 1990s. I went to work for MetService as an operational meteorologist for a couple of years, and then began looking around for a different direction. I had been going down the academic track, like my family, butI wanted to find somewhere I could make a practical change. I found some key women role models. People like Dr Suzi Kerr (Motu Research founder), and Dr Jan Wright (Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment from 2007 to 2017) had a much harder time than me. I ended up going to Motu and working for Dr Suzi Kerr around 2001. She had done her PhD at Harvard in the 1990s, when the field of environmental economics was really starting to kick off. She came back to New Zealand and in many ways, became a pioneer in the field. We were working out of her living room, living grant to grant, taking any research funding she could pull in. I was there for five or six years, gaining an understanding of environmental economics, before I moved on to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environments office working for Dr Jan Wright. I started out as a researcher, and by the end of my 10 years there and I had my two kids during that time too I was made director in 2017. I learned there the importance of engagement with people. Every policy decision has a human impact theres a person attached. I worked on reports and submissions related to the Emissions Trading Scheme, agricultural emissions, sea level rise, and various other climate related topics, and some of the most visceral moments were sitting in everyday people's living rooms, hearing the physical impacts of climate change or, when done badly, the impacts of policies on these families. What energises me most is getting out to different parts of the country and meeting with people on the ground, people who are maybe just learning about climate change for the first time, or demonstrating positive change, who are experimenting, who are passionate. It's seeing how what is already happening can inform policy and have wider impact. Any transition needs to be equitable; we've got to be making sure we're considering people in every situation. Blame doesn't create the kind of positive change that we want it creates conflict. You do see fewer climate deniers these days; it's very, very rare to come across people denying the science, compared to 10 years ago. There are so many reasons beyond concern for the planet to support climate change mitigation; there will be economic opportunities from new jobs and technological advancements renewable energy, battery technology, and electric vehicles and health benefits from better quality of life as a result of active transport, and warmer, better-insulated homes. New Zealand may be a small part of the global picture, but its an important piece of the puzzle. We do need to change per-capita emissions we are high. In 2018, New Zealand had 7.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide per capita, but that increases to 16.9 tonnes per capita when you count all our other greenhouse gases as well. If we can reduce our emissions in a way that brings our people along, we're demonstrating to the world how to do this right. I am actually more optimistic, more hopeful than I've ever been. We have so many tools and technologies now to help decarbonise, and that's just growing every day. People globally are investing in them, and we have a social mandate like never before. - as told to Kate Green.