Clock ticks on climate action and transport change
Monday, 2 December 2019
OPINION: One thing we do know about climate change - it is not going to go on hold to await Auckland Council's next 10-Year Budget in 2021.
Nor will global warming wait two years for the Government to produce its next Land Transport Plan, which funds public and active transport.
How then will Auckland Council get cracking on measures to help slow global warming, and can political commitment overpower the bureaucratic machinery?
It is only a month since the fourth Auckland Council was sworn in, with Mayor Phil Goff citing climate change action as the first of its new priorities.
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Auckland is one of many councils that has set the bar high, in June declaring a 'climate emergency' - an emergency that will be 8 months old after the summer break.
Councillors are already tucked away in workshops pondering next year's budget, in which average rate rises are forecast to jump from a long-standing 2.5 per cent, to 3.5 per cent.
However the word already is that finances are tight and there will be little opportunity for big new initiatives.
Even the council's draft climate action 'framework' said the costed actions that it settles on will flow into the re-hash of the 10-Year Budget, due in mid-2021.
What can the council do now, even in small but tangible ways, that shows action is happening and remind Aucklanders that our ways of life may need to change?
Take my local park. Council research earlier this year highlighted the need to plant more trees for shade, green spaces that can improve the health and the lives of residents as temperatures rise.
The local domain, all 16 hectares of it including sports fields, has a smattering of shady trees, none of which have seating or tables under them, and no local board funding in sight.
Transport produces 46 per cent of Auckland's carbon emissions, so fossil fuel-burning vehicles need to give way to more journeys made on zero-emission public transport, walking or cycling.
This is called 'mode shift', which is also the name of a year-long piece of work commissioned by Transport Minister Phil Twyford.
That work will emerge soon, but the smoke signals suggest there is little new in it, and no major new funding until the next reset of the Government's transport priorities in 2021.
Electric buses would be a small but important signal of change. Auckland Transport's cautious move into 'zero-emission' buses has put two on the road, with a third on loan from a manufacturer.
Two more will be bought by AT next year, five will go into service on Waiheke Island, and a hydrogen-powered test bus will be bought - making 11.
In contrast, 10 electric buses are in full service in Wellington, and five are already running in Tauranga. Councils in those regions simply specified them when selecting an operator to run local services, without seeking help from the Government.
An electric ferry is being developed in Auckland with orders expected to be taken next year, able to replace the big diesel-burners currently plying the harbour, but Auckland Transport has yet to work out how to fund an overdue and costly revamp of commuter ferry contracts.
Auckland Transport failed to get council or NZTA support last year to freeze public transport fares, and increases of up to 6 per cent were expected to reduce patronage growth by 830,000 trips.
This year's fare review is still in the pipeline, but other initiatives have been funded this year, such as free weekends for under-16s, and the proposed discounted travel for journeys involving ferries and a bus or train.
Some creative political thinking and budgeting seems required for the council to make climate change action a reality next year, and to act on the bold words of this year.