Everything we touch is affected somehow by that contact. Every time our feet hit the ground, every time we breathe in and out, every time we eat or travel or talk, we are changing the environment around us.
Some touches are lighter on the Earth than others, of course.
Some are barely perceptible or leave little visible or lasting evidence, such as a stroll through a forest or a bike ride into town.
Others, however, are heavy-duty impacts which, ironically, take something away from the planet by adding something to it — undesirable pollutants or emissions of greenhouse gases which change the composition of the fragile atmosphere around us and ensure global temperatures will continue their inexorable rise.
Many aspects of modern farming and transport are hard on the environment and emit a great deal of emissions.
Without making significant changes which produce tangible results in these sectors, our other combined efforts are not enough to appear something other than tinkering around the edges.
We really need to stop and think what we can do to minimise emissions from every quarter. No sector should be exempt.
Let’s face it. We are not back in the carefree 1970s or ’80s.
The science of what is happening to the world’s weather has been proven beyond doubt. Heatwaves and wildfires are whipping through countries in the northern hemisphere.
Meanwhile, Dunedin in the far more temperate South is getting ready to welcome back cruise ships in just a few months’ time.
With the Dunedin City Council now debating its plan to make the city carbon-neutral by 2030, the issue of how much these floating mini-cities actually bring to Dunedin economically versus their considerable environmental effects, and the cost of those, has again surfaced.
There is little doubt the annual cruise-ship season has been a boon for Dunedin.
But, as Dunedin gets serious about its target just seven years away, it is time for everything which has a major impact on our ability to cut emissions to be known and understood.
This week, Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders threw some seeds of doubt into the argument that these ships are significant contributors to Dunedin’s carbon footprint.
The cruise-ship sector’s emissions are not yet being accounted for in the city’s total, due to a lack of data.
However, despite significant evidence to the contrary, Mr Winders is unsure they should be considered material within Dunedin’s overall emissions profile.
He says the ships bring much economic benefit to the South and cautions against considering them as problematic.
He also points out the industry is researching and investing in environmental solutions.
That might be the case. But it is incorrect to say they are significantly immaterial, given some simple comparisons which can be made with container and bulk vessels’ emissions.
According to the city council, marine freight generated 10% of Dunedin’s 2021-22 gross emissions and 31% of all transport emissions.
In the baseline 2018-19 year, there were 115 cruise ship visits compared with 458 from freight vessels.
A direct comparison is not scientifically possible, due to the different size of cruise and cargo ships and their efficiency, but based on those figures it is possible cruise ships could have generated 2-3% of the city’s emissions.
A city council submission to the Government on tourism estimates that for Dunedin to be carbon neutral by 2030, overall marine emissions will need to be cut by 40%, on-road transport emissions by 39% and aviation emissions by 50% against the 2018-19 baseline.
Yes, cruise ships bring Dunedin and the South much-appreciated income and raise our reputation internationally through word-of-mouth.
But as we try to fight back against fearsome climate change, and do our bit, it is highly likely that some of these less essential activities may be drastically affected.
