Auckland climate emergency: Council asks residents for ideas to tackle crisis

Wednesday, 17 July 2019

Auckland students demonstrate in Queen St in March calling for faster action on climate change

Aucklanders are being urged to air their views on how climate change should be tackled in the city.

The council's Climate Action Framework proposes ideas such taking climate resilience and health benefits into decisions on all transport projects.

A report concludes that climate change will hit poorer communities in Auckland harder. (Video published March 2019)

The council said continuing as the city is now, will not deliver the goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and action needs to accelerate.

The action framework does not detail specific actions the council will take, but sets out general ideas in 11 key areas.

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Auckland and 89 other cities in the global C90 group, are committed to bringing in policies that will help limit a temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The council last month declared a climate emergency, as a prelude to debating actions next year that would need funding.

'We want to test whether we are heading in the right direction to bring about the change that is needed. Have we got it right?,' said Penny Hulse, the chair of the Environment and Community committee.

Among Transport ideas floated are rapidly increasing the affordability and availability of public transport, and rapidly increasing cycling and walking routes.

Having more local or regional sources of renewable energy is another proposal, with a mix of hydrogen supply or wind and solar generation.

This week a survey by Stuff with 15,000 responses found half of those rated climate change as 'extremely important'.

The strength of feeling declined by age, from the highest level among teenagers.

The council group's own plans have drawn some criticism, such as the move towards electric buses.

Auckland Transport has a conservative plan which allows new diesel buses to be bought up to 2025, meaning those could be on the city's roads until 2040 or beyond.

Reports presented to the council's climate symposium in March, showed the city's poorest communities would be hardest hit by climate change.

By 2110 the southern communities will have 90 extra 'hot days' - more than the Auckland average, according to one report.

'The 10-15 extra hot days (and 25 in the south and north) are just over a decade away,' said the council report.

At the time Hulse said there was also not enough political bravery to get on with tackling and dealing with global warming.

Public submissions on the council's Climate Action Framework, close on September 6.