The Election Roadshow for Climate is an initiative of Extinction Rebellion (XR) to put the climate emergency at the front and centre of the 2020 election.

The Roadshow starts concurrently from Bluff and Cape Reinga on September 14 and ends at Parliament in Wellington on September 25. It aims to promote a declaration of a climate emergency, a Citizens’ Assembly on climate, and a green economic recovery as election issues by telling voters where their local candidates stand on each of these ideas.

“Over 1400 governance agencies across 28 different countries have declared a climate emergency,” says Mathias Corwin, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion. “A Citizens’ Assembly on climate is already being implemented in France and the UK. A green recovery is favoured by 86% of New Zealanders. These aren’t radical ideas. These are necessary ideas.”

The Roadshow will stop at at least 18 different locations around New Zealand and will be talking to the public about how they can use their votes to push for progressive policy on climate change in the upcoming election.

At each stop, local people who are already being affected in some way by the crisis will be available for interview by local media, and the Roadshow crew will be talking about how climate change will affect the different localities.

“People are crying out for change but there is this disconnect between what people want and what politicians are willing to go out on a limb for,” says Mathias Corwin. “There’s a surge of interest in our collective future and that’s part of what this roadshow is all about: making sure that people’s voices are heard and that politicians are listening. Our strategy is to get politicians to pledge support for these crucial, planet-saving ideas. And then we encourage voters to elect as many of these politicians into parliament as we can so that they can enact these policies.”

Extinction Rebellion will be joined by the Aotearoa Climate Emergency (ACE) network on the road, and has gathered support from the NZ Educational Institute as well as the NZ Council of Trade Unions.

“COVID-19 has shown us how quickly the political and economic landscape can change,” says Mathias Corwin. “The government has demonstrated it is capable of taking swift and decisive action, and we are now asking for an equally urgent response to the climate emergency.”

© Scoop Media