Deirdre Kent

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Welcome

Hi! I am Deirdre Kent and I live in a retirement village in Waikanae, an hour north of Wellington in New Zealand. For the last 20 years I have been thinking and writing and acting on the topic of New Economics. This site has a lot of blogs about New Economics, including a lot about my last book. However, more recently my passion has been on advocating for Whole Food Plant Based Eating. So here you will find new material on that topic.

Because I am older, I started eating this way for health reasons, although others adopt it for environmental reasons and of course animal welfare reasons. I want to stay alive and I also am glad that eating this way is one of my small contributions to reducing emissions.

I will be blogging here and giving you links to material from the various authorities on this topic.

So enjoy!

Councils need a new superpower as climate costs escalate

Recently I spent two hours at a council meeting of Kapiti Coast District Council where the topic was a workshop focussing on creating a district wide plan for climate mitigation and adaption.

It seems the apocalyptic climate events of the past weeks in Northland, Auckland, Tairawhiti and Hawkes Bay has had a noticeable effect on our own councillors. It was heartening to see them enthusiastically stepping up aspirations on climate action.

But when it came to implementation there was something to be faced. A reality check was needed. I was left in no doubt at the end that councils simply haven’t got the resources, the money, the staff to do any accurate assessment of the districtwide emissions. Nor have they the resources to implement what is desirable.

Continue reading “Councils need a new superpower as climate costs escalate”

Degrowth – the word to hate and then accept

Yes, it’s an awful word but we won’t try and change it because there are already over 500 academic articles on degrowth. The movement is strong in Europe. Continue reading “Degrowth – the word to hate and then accept”

Negative interest rates are very different from a demurrage currency

With the prospect of New Zealand one day going as far as negative interest rates, we need to examine the consequences of that. The trouble is that those of us who know a little about demurrage currencies tend to think they are the same, whereas they are very different. Continue reading “Negative interest rates are very different from a demurrage currency”

What is the right figure for livestock’s contribution to emissions?

Well I have never been in a subject where the figures show such a wide range. I think we get from 12% to 51% of total global emissions with everything in between. It started in 2006 with Livestock’s Long Shadow, a study that brought an alarming result for the beef and dairy sector and caused them to demand a partnership with FAO from then on. Continue reading “What is the right figure for livestock’s contribution to emissions?”

Repurposing some agricultural land for horticulture has revenue consequences

New Zealand is incredibly dependent on its primary industry sector for revenue so I thought it worth looking at the current situation. If we are proposing that in order to reduce our methane and nitrous oxide emissions, it has export revenue consequences. If we say some appropriate land should be repurposed for growing more plant foods, then it might pay us to look at the revenue we currently receive from our primary sector. Continue reading “Repurposing some agricultural land for horticulture has revenue consequences”

Finding the exact figures for livestock’s long shadow

Goodland and Anhang (2009) noting the FAO study Livestock’s Long Shadow (LLS) found that livestock contributed 18% to total emissions, re-calculated and found it was actually 51% of the total global greenhouse gases. This was published by the Worldwatch Institute. Continue reading “Finding the exact figures for livestock’s long shadow”

We should be rating properties on their land value

Recently I saw the Minister for the Environment Hon David Parker react to the Horticultural growers on TV1. Horticulture New Zealand is getting increasingly concerned that valuable horticultural land is being swallowed up by housing or by lifestyle blocks. Continue reading “We should be rating properties on their land value”

System Change not Climate Change – what to ask of a website

Climate change is a symptom of our broken economic system. As Naomi Klein said, “The economy is at war with the climate.” Climate scientists have laid out the facts for decades now and politicians have failed to respond because they are afraid the economy might not grow. And the growth imperative is structurally built into the system. If the economy doesn’t grow the alternative is not equilibrium. It is collapse. Continue reading “System Change not Climate Change – what to ask of a website”

Retirement Villages – land, capital gains

I am going to start with my beliefs and assumptions and you can refer to this blog when you puzzle about why I am saying something. Continue reading “Retirement Villages – land, capital gains”

Zero Carbon Act means lower growth

I’ve been doing some reading on embodied energy. If you google search this term you will find references to the embodied energy of buildings. Yes, eco-architects are on to it. Buildings have life cycles and the eenrgy involved in the extraction, transport, manufacture, assembly and end of life phases adds up. All this energy becomes “embodied” in a product. So when we engage in discussions of our renewable energy future we can say much more about it than what energy source we will use. Mostly the discussion is about moving to renewable energy sources from fossil fuels. Continue reading “Zero Carbon Act means lower growth”