Nelson City Council has been included in a report by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) as one of four councils that have made early progress on responding to climate change.

The Auditor General’s report commends all four councils for their progress in climate change initiatives, despite navigating an uncertain and evolving national policy landscape.

Chair of the Climate Change Taskforce Councillor Aaron Stallard says inclusion in the report highlights Council’s commitment to innovative practices and effective strategies in addressing climate challenges.

“The timing of this report is useful because in early 2025 Council will engage with the community on a draft Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, which will include community emission reduction targets”.

“The OAG report makes it clear that we need to work to embed climate action into our policies and core activities, measure and report on progress to ensure we are accountable and tell the public about our climate goals and how we intend to get achieve them. We accept this challenge.”

The report highlights several areas where councils can focus their efforts to ensure their climate change strategies are effective.

Nelson City Council was particularly praised for its collaborative efforts with neighbouring Tasman District Council on a comprehensive climate risk assessment and the development of a climate risk tool. This tool will be essential in identifying when and where adaptation measures are necessary to mitigate climate disruptions.

In addition to inter-council collaboration, the Council actively engages with community groups, such as the Nelson Tasman Climate Forum, to leverage local expertise and capacity in advancing climate initiatives.

“In terms of engagement, Council will start a wide-ranging conversation with the Nelson community in early 2025 when we go out to the public with our draft Whakatū Nelson Climate Change Strategy,” says Stallard.

“We have already started meaningful early engagement for this strategy with young people from across Nelson presenting on this topic at Council’s public forum on Thursday, 7 November 2024. Our plans for next year are inclusive and extensive and I am looking forward to some of the innovative ways that we will be getting people involved.”

Nelson is also leading the way in its reporting on greenhouse gas emissions. We have measured and reported on Council’s greenhouse gas emissions every year since 2017/18. Over this time, we have seen an 89 per cent drop in Council’s emissions, largely due to changes made to reduce methane emissions at our landfills.

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