Wellington moves to coordinate climate action
NEWS RELEASE
27 November 2009
Wellington moves
to coordinate climate action
A proposed draft 2010
Climate Change Action Plan released today will enable the
City Council to take a strong lead in local efforts to
address climate change.
The wide-ranging and
comprehensive plan, which will be debated by City
Councillors next week:
develops the Council’s
leading role in response to climate change
identifies the
need to address global climate change as a citywide issue,
requiring local solutions, research and
investigation
embraces actions in response to impacts
from climate change such as sea level rise
seeks to
encourage business opportunities
proposes that Wellington
be an early adopter of electric vehicle
technology.
Councillor Ray Ahipene-Mercer, the
Council’s Climate Change Portfolio Leader, says that the
proposed plan responds to community expectations for the
city to take the lead on climate change.
“It
builds on things that we are already involved with,
including improvements to encourage walking and cycling,
greater use of public transport, leading-edge studies with
research institutes, and technology innovations that are
being developed in partnership with the region’s economic
development agency Grow Wellington.
“All these
actions bring together the best science, planning and
international thinking, ensuring that every decision that
the Council makes in future will help us meet our climate
change goals,” he says.
Cr Ahipene-Mercer says
while efforts to combat greenhouse gas emissions need to be
accelerated, this can no longer be the only primary
focus.
“We also need to strengthen existing
efforts to plan for the challenges that climate change will
bring. Climate change is now a global reality, and there
are obvious implications, particularly for waterfront cities
like Wellington. However, we also need to be innovative and
future-focussed to give our city an edge in responding to
climate change issues.”
Embracing electric
vehicle technology is just one of the proposals in the
plan.
Cr Ahipene-Mercer says it makes sense for the
Council to make sure the implications of this new technology
are explored in more depth.
The Council
developed its first Climate Change Action Plan in 2007 and
has already taken a number of significant steps, including
measuring greenhouse gas emissions, capturing methane from
the city’s landfill and using it to generate electricity,
and receiving carbon credits under the Emissions Trading
Scheme for areas of forest located on Council
land.
But Cr Ahipene-Mercer believes that more
action is needed, particularly to assess what effect changes
like sea level rise might have on the city and how the
Council can assist businesses, communities and individuals
to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
If the
Council’s Strategy and Policy Committee agrees next week,
the proposals will be available for community input in about
April next year.
Mayor Kerry Prendergast is set to
attend climate change talks in Copenhagen from 13-18
December, as a representative of both Wellington City and
Local Government New Zealand. The Mayor is taking part in a
meeting of mayors from leading international cities.
Wellington City has been specifically asked to attend this
invitation-only event, involving major world cities taking
action on climate change – such as London, Toronto and Los
Angeles. Only 100 cities globally have received invitations
to this important meeting.
“I look forward to
discussing this critical issue with other city leaders,
sharing our approach and bringing some of the world’s best
practice back to Wellington,” she says. “We have so much
potential to build on
here.”
ends