Midday Report

Increasingly ferocious storms, and severe droughts are among the effects of climate change. 

In the Caribbean, a hurricane can wipe out a third of a country's GDP overnight. 

At the climate conference in Egypt, the Alliance of Small Island States is trying to convince big polluters and the richest countries to cough up the billions of dollars they've already promised - and to commit trillions more as the onslaught worsens. 

The Alliance's lead negotiator Ambassador Conrod Hunte from Antigua and Barbuda spoke to Jimmy Ellingham about the need for swift and meaningful resolution on talks of finance for loss and damage.

Torrential rain and severe wind gusts are sweeping across the upper North Island causing slips, fallen trees and power outages.

Early this morning parts of Northland had surface flooding and the sub-tropic burst of activity led to outside lanes on Auckland's harbour bridge closing.

RNZ reporter Sally Wenley spoke to Jimmy Ellingham.

A world leading expert on climate refugees says the world needs to come to grips with the issue to avoid chaos at countries' borders.

The Bahamas' Prime Minister Philip Davis told the COP27 UN climate conference in Egypt overnight that rich countries must slash climate emissions, or face dealing with tens to hundreds of millions of climate refugees.

Currently, there's no definition for such thing as a climate refugee in international law.

As a result there are no reliable data on how many people are already needing to leave their homes.

But it's a scenario New Zealand may have to grapple with, with Pacific nations particularly susceptible to sea-level rise and inundation from increasingly ferocious storms.

University of New South Wales Professor Jane McAdam told RNZ climate reporter Hamish Cardwell people are already on the move.

It's cost more than half-a-billion dollars to keep New Zealanders in emergency housing since April last year.

And the number of people spending at least six months in such accommodation is growing.

Housing researcher Dr Bev James spoke to Jimmy Ellingham there was no quick fix, but more could be done to increase housing supply.

News from the rural farming sector Despite a cold and wet spring in Canterbury, NIWA is now warning the region has become a hotspot on moisture deficit readings and that's likely to get worse over the next week. PlantTech Reasearch Institute Limited; a company which wanted to develop artificial intelligence for the horticulture sector has been put into liquidation. Processors have decreased slaughter prices for mutton and lamb and a market expert is warning prices will continue to fall in the months ahead.

Midday sports News for 10 November 2022 The Black Ferns have made just one injury-enforced change to the team for Saturday's Rugby World Cup final against England at Eden Park. Black Caps captain Kane Williamson will take some time to contemplate his future in all three formats of the game.

News from the business sector A review of the Reserve Bank's monetary policy decisions over the past five years indicates inflation would not be as high now, if it had acted sooner. Global logistics business Mainfreight's first half profit is up two-thirds on the year earlier, with all three divisions and five regions contributing significantly. Diversified property developer, Goodman Property Trust, has delivered a strong underlying performance with surging demand for Auckland industrial property.

Just 40 percent of children went to school regularly in term two this year, a new low.

Meanwhile, chronic absence, meaning children missed a third or more of their classes, nearly doubled to reach 14 percent.

An Education Ministry report says there was a substantial rise in absences due to illness including COVID-19 in term two.

The children's commissioner judge Frances Eivers spoke to Jimmy Ellingham

The Reserve Bank thinks it's made pretty good decisions on monetary policy over the past five years, given the information it had to hand at the time.

It says its support for banks and financial markets kept money flowing.

But it says in hindsight, some of its pandemic-related measures should have eased or ended earlier including its government bond-buying programme; the Funding for Lenders Programme; and raising interest rates earlier after the economy picked up.

A former Reserve Bank economist Michael Reddell spoke with Jimmy Ellingham

Low-lying island states know first-hand the effects of climate change, and the consequences of wooly language in agreed climate texts. 

At COP27, developing countries managed to get discussions about "loss and damage" onto the agenda. But that's just a start, really they need immediate emissions reductions, and a transparent and accountable mechanism for trillions-of-dollars worth of climate grants.

Sivendra Michael is a Fijian climate negotiator who knows what it's like to grapple with rising seas, more severe storms, and entire populations having to move.

He spoke to Jimmy Ellingham about how he brings that personal experience into the negotiations; and the new Kioa Declaration