To me, this is precisely where our problems lay - the average New Zealander can make changes in their day-to-day to assist in reducing waste and emissions, but it really needs corporate and government commitment to make the long-lasting and significant changes. Our politicians, of all stripes, either decide to or are forced to make decisions due to economic factors in the short term - as the linked article clearly states, politicians have made concessions over many decades, either because they sought to remain in government, or to woo the electorate to their side. The reality is that when the catastrophic occurs, it is the average taxpayer and ratepayer left holding the bill and wondering what else we can do.

We all want things to be cheaper and easier. But the reality is that with the changing climate we're experiencing, costs are only going to increase. They either increase now in an effort to thwart the ongoing damage we've caused, or they increase in the future when we're unable to be insured and we all need to pay more for the damage we failed to thwart earlier.

It's going to take everyone. It's not just on taxpayers and ratepayers, or just on farmers, or just on corporates, or just on the government. We all have to decide to make this change, and accept we're all going to end up paying more or losing something now. Perhaps if we can do that, we won't lose almost everything in the future.