What’s happening in Taranaki? Social workers and the environment

Abstract

Climate change is altering our physical world (Alston 2013; Gray, Coates & Hetherington 2013; Dominelli 2012; Hetherington & Boddy 2013; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] 2012) and forcing us to consider the way we live with Papa-tūā-nuku. Globally, nationally and locally we are forced to consider 'green’ issues as a result of climate change (Alston 2013; Coates 2004; Coates 2003; Gray, Coates & Hetherington 2013; IPCC 2012). The International Federation of Social Workers (2013: 4) state, ‘…the last twenty years has demonstrated as never before the inter-dependence of life on the globe’, and advocate for social workers recognising the importance of the natural world in their work. This article considers what this means for social workers in Taranaki.