Council gets climate report

The calls have been many for New Plymouth councillors to declare a climate emergency but it is not a recommendation of a new climate framework report.

School students, climate campaigners and members of the public all went to council meetings last term asking the New Plymouth District Council to follow the lead of other councils around New Zealand.

But councillors decided to instead wait on a climate report before committing or not.

That report, which councillors will discuss tomorrow, is now complete and suggests the council adopt a climate action framework and address climate change on either a basic, intermediate or advanced resourcing level.

Declaring a climate emergency is discussed but not a recommendation, although councillors can still choose to declare if they want.

The report also offers a number of initiatives NPDC could look at, including looking at low-emissions vehicles first when replacements are needed, co-investing with Hiringa Energy in the construction of a local hydrogen refuelling station, and establishing a fund for community-driven projects.

Fourteen out of 78 local and regional authorities within New Zealand have declared climate emergencies, the report says.

‘‘If NPDC is to minimise the impact that climate change might have on the wellbeing of our community, then understanding our vulnerabilities and planning ahead needs to start now,’’ the report notes.

Councillor Stacey Hitchcock said the matter would be discussed at the meeting but in her view a declaration was one thing, yet it also needed tangible action.

‘‘It is important to remember it is not council in isolation doing this,’’ Hitchcock said.

‘‘We have got to weigh up how much I guess we would financially put into the mitigation of climate change and what we can get for that.’’

Deputy mayor Richard Jordan said declaring a climate emergency sounded good and grandiose but it was hard to say what it actually meant.

‘‘My gut feeling is the community wants us to adapt and mitigate for climate change,’’ Jordan said.

‘‘I believe to adapt and mitigate is a lot more practical than actually just declaring a climate emergency.’’

For councillor Anneka Carlson the framework was a start but it felt a little vague.

She said NPDC should declare climate urgency if not emergency but not straight away – they had to be ready with the actions to back it up.

‘‘My gut feeling is the community wants us to adapt and mitigate for climate change.’’ Richard Jordan