■ Recent tragedies expose nature’s power, climate tensions, and the need for humility, care, and learning, writes Kim Webby

The loss of life in landslides in Papamoa and Mount Maunganui is a tragic reminder of the indomitable power of nature.

As much as we try to harness nature, and we plan and mitigate for disasters, our efforts can be wiped out in minutes or seconds.

First, we pay our respects to the dead and offer our support to their families and loved ones.

Teams of emergency service people swing into action, mana whenua also mobilise to care for people’s needs, from the spiritual with karakia to

the physical with kai, shelter and aroha.

People from all walks of life bring food, flowers and their sorrow as solace for the living.

It is only three years since I travelled up State Highway 35 as far as I could go to make a short documentary on the people of Ruatoria and their homegrown Civil Defence response, after Cyclone Gabrielle.

Parts of Ruatoria, devastated last time, are again flooded.

Just north at Te Araroa and near Hicks Bay, we’ve seen the flooding pictures and the reports of whānau who sheltered with their babies on their roof in the darkness and driving rain.

These events are natural disasters, but is the frequency and severity normal and what role does climate change play?

That’s a big question and not one that I can answer.

According to the Ministry for the Environment website, in April 2024 the Government made reducing net emissions one of its nine targets, to keep us on track to reach net zero for long-lived gases by 2050.

But since then, through the Fast Track Approval Act, the Government has sped up permits to explore and develop New Zealand’s petroleum and mineral resources.

To be fair, renewable energy projects are also part of the fast-track approvals process.

The Government has overturned the 2018 ban on offshore oil and gas exploration and halved the target for methane emissions from livestock.

These are just a few of its actions that are detrimental to meeting climate change targets.

I wonder whether they crossed Christopher Luxon’s mind when he visited the bereaved this week at Mount Maunganui.

Meantime, Tauranga City’s mayor, Mahe Drysdale, has announced an independent inquiry into the tragedy at its Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park.

WorkSafe will make inquiries once the recovery operation for the deceased is complete.

Among the public, the blame game has already begun, but for now, let’s taihoa until the expert investigators have had a chance to do their job.

And I hope that the outcome is not so much angry finger-pointing as an opportunity to learn from this tragedy.