Kaeden Watts

Guest writer

Kaeden Watts (Tūhoe, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is an Indigenous rights advocate and policy expert working within the areas of climate change, health, human rights, and Indigenous sovereignty. He currently serves as an Associate Research Fellow at the University of London's Institute of Commonwealth Studies.

A climate activist from Extinction Rebellion protests in Bonn, where the World Biodiversity Council met in 2023 (Ying Tang/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Countries are starting to recognise ‘ecocide’ as a crime – should New Zealand do the same?

If someone were to cause harm solely to nature, but not people, New Zealand has very few legal tools available to hold them accountable.

By Kaeden Watts | 3rd November, 2025

Image: Getty Images; additional design Tina Tiller

Cyclone Gabrielle showed us that climate change is a health emergency, too

From the immediate horror of death and injury to the more insidious aftereffects, severe weather events prove climate change is a matter of survival.

By Kaeden Watts

& Isabella Lenihan-Ikin | 3rd March, 2023