Responding to climate change in Aotearoa New Zealand: Universities, neoliberalism and narratives of change

Abstract

This article investigates how the eight universities in Aotearoa New Zealand are responding to climate change. It employs a mixed methods approach and involves a detailed analysis of the documentation that universities have produced in relation to climate change, supported by a critical discourse analysis and interviews with key actors in universities' climate change response. All universities in Aotearoa New Zealand were found to be mobilising in response to climate change, with targets set for reducing emissions, plans developed, and work programmes underway. These targets are not limited to decarbonization but include ambitions to embed sustainability values across teaching, research and campus life. While these climate change responses contain positive and aspirational narratives grounded in indigenous values, the primary discourses perpetuate neoliberal ideas of reconciliation that suggest no radical change is needed. Universities are further constrained by the impacts of neoliberalism and their need to financially survive within an unsustainable economic paradigm. The research concludes that it seems unlikely that transformational change will be led by universities in Aotearoa New Zealand.