Local government candidates are warning that unless drastic moves are made to prevent climate change, coastal communities will be forced to move.
In a special episode of The Hui, some Maori local government candidates hoping to represent their communities discussed topics close to their hearts.
One of those brought up was the issue of climate change and how it will affect rangatahi in the future.
Moko Tepania, who is standing to be the next mayor of the Far North, said it's important to "make mokopuna decisions", meaning they need to be good ancestors for future generations.
"What our rangatahi want is to make sure that we leave them a planet to actually live in and for their children to live in, and if we don't start making those longer-term decisions about making sure that we look after Papatūānuku, then we aren't going to be," he said.
"We actually need to think about how we implement these big changes and it has to start now. It's not tomorrow or the next council or the next election cycle where we'll just see what happens next time, we actually have to start thinking about that right now."
Tepania said it's already been forecast where the sea is going to rise in decades to come and it's well-known which communities will be affected the most.
"We know there are actually communities we are going to have to look at moving."
Climate change is also an important issue for Elijah Pue, who is standing to be the next mayor of Ruapehu.
He said one of the region's biggest exporters is tourism, especially with Mount Ruapehu in the heart of the district.
"Winters are getting shorter and shorter, there are less jobs available on the maunga. We need to start considering what that looks like for our future," he said.
"I think the unique thing about us young Maori candidates is that we're going to be in that future, so when we think 20, 30, 40 years [from now], we're still there, and that's a unique thing against others that might be a bit older."
Watch the video above for their full discussion.
Made with support from Te Māngai Pāho and the Public Interest Journalism Fund.
