Thanks for the resource, I will use it in teaching next year.

I have been comparing UK and NZ efforts on climate change for an article. The difference between the official NZ and UK sites (http://www.climatechange.govt.nz/index.html compared to http://actonco2.direct.gov.uk/actonco2/home.html) is a tale of two different planets and says a lot about the NZ government’s head space on climate change education.

Whereas the UK sites features its hard hitting children’s fairy tale ad, asks people to reduce emissions asap, the only advice for citizens that I can find on the NZ site is under “stuff for kids” (last updated June 2009). It says “All New Zealanders should be aware of climate change and know some actions they can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” There is a game for kids to play about “cool moves” around the house. There is a jump across to the http://www.eeca.govt.nz main page – which has no up-front message about climate change.

Amazing that, pre-Copenhagen, no-one told the NZ government that for a few thousand dollars they could improve the way thousands of NZlanders understand the issue, as well as how thousands worldwide view NZ climate change efforts. But, I suppose, the problem is really believing that there is a crisis, and having some actual deeds to match your words….

Tom Bennion