An (Early) Compendium of Council Climate Emergency Declarations in NZ

Councils around New Zealand and government bodies around the world are declaring climate emergencies, largely in response to student protests (e.g., #FridaysForFuture #SchoolStrike4Climate #SS4C etc).

It is interesting to watch the process and asking what do the declarations mean? A second interesting point is whether the declaration of emergencies will begin to extend to issues beyond climate change, and perhaps beyond the environment. New Zealand's first declaration, in Christchurch followed this pattern, but others so far have not.

It seems useful to compile the proposed and final declarations from from different bodies. I've started with those underway during the writing of this blog – Hutt City and its community boards. Two of the latter, Petone and Eastbourne, will be strongly challenged to cope with sea level rise, however resolutions focus largely on emissions. Curiously, the Eastbourne and Wainuiomata proposed declarations focus on 'integration' and 'audit', implying administration, meetings and paperwork, without implying an ambitious target such as a date for net zero emissions. Petone's declaration passed on Monday. Eastbourne passed an amended motion Tuesday, adding an additional clause urging the Hutt City declaration to be (if I heard/remember correctly) "loud and strong".

Hutt City Council will consider the following at its 27 June meeting. 

--> Update: Hutt City Council approved an emergency declaration, but motions to try to firm up what this would actually achieve became confusing. Councillor Lisa Bridson posted on twitter: 

Last night Hutt City Council declared a climate change emergency,which is fantastic. The rest of what was agreed seemed to lack urgency or leadership. Great that we have taken a small slow step, but really think we should be getting ready to run.

— Lisa Bridson (@HuttChick10) June 28, 2019

7. INFORMATION ON DECLARING A CLIMATE EMERGENCY (19/691) 

Report No. HCC2019/3/121 by the Manager, Sustainability and Resilience [p.273]

MAYOR’S RECOMMENDATION:

“That Council:

(i)  notes and receives the report;
(ii)  notes that Council has started work on Climate Change issues;
(iii)  notes a comprehensive report will be presented to the Policy andRegulatory Committee in September on Council’s organisationalemissions and a range of initiatives and projects underway;
(iv)  notes scoping for the development of a Hutt City Zero Carbon Plan is underway;
(v)  note Hutt City Council is working with colleagues in the region through the Wellington Region Climate Change Working Group;
(vi)  implements a Climate Change Emergency status recognising that Lower Hutt City will be affected by Climate Change; and
(vii)  considers any additional funding required as part of next year’s Council Long Term Plan.”

Preceding the council meeting on the 27th, three community boards will vote on motions of declarations. Petone's declaration differs from that of Eastbourne and Wainuiomata.

Petone Community Board Meeting 24 June

Will consider a motion ...

That the Board:

1. declares a climate emergency for our Petone Community in recognition of the importance and urgent need to address climate change, for current and future generations; and
2. asks that Council declares a climate emergency for all of Lower Hutt; and commits to robustly incorporate climate change considerations into all Council work programmes and decisions; and leads by example in monitoring and reducing gas emissions.

Notice of Motion for the Wainuiomata Community Board meeting 26 June 2019 
proposes to move the following motion: 
That the Board:

1. declares a climate emergency in recognition of the urgent need to protect the futureof today’s community and those who will follow;
2. asks that Council joins other local authorities in declaring a climate emergency; and
3. asks that Council makes climate change an integral part of planning and decision making, including specific goals and objectives that are regularly audited.

Eastbourne Community Board 25 June
This Notice of Motion is for inclusion on the agenda for the Eastbourne Community Board to move: 
That the Board:

1. declares a climate emergency in recognition of the urgent need to protect the future of today’s community and those who will follow
2. asks that Council joins other local authorities in declaring a climate emergency; and
3. asks that Council makes climate change an integral part of planning and decision making, including specific goals and objectives that are regularly audited.

We'll see what happens at the Hutt City Council meeting later this week, but so far it is interesting to note that the local councils focus largely on emissions, which they have relatively little control over, rather than issues such as managed retreat and planning for sea level rise, where they need to take the lead but arguably are not doing so.

Other declarations from New Zealand and what's notable about them

One of NZ's earlier and stronger declarations was from Nelson. Weeks after their declaration, Nelson backed the declaration up with funding. Christchurch beat Nelson to be the first to declare, but appears to have a weaker declaration and less followup. One aspect of Christchurch's declaration worth watching is widening the scope to an "ecological and climate emergency." 

Auckland's declaration is mostly words and prioritisation, but the statement does signal direction and commitment.

Wellington passed their declaration along with a substantial strategy document focussing largely on transport, Te Atakura First to Zero. The coupling of a substantial strategy to the declaration is worth a look. Here is Wellington's text from p 8 of the Minutes.

Resolved

That the City Strategy Committee:

A. Agrees to declare an ecological and climate emergency to guide Te Atakura – First to Zero with the following words:

Te wero

Toitū te marae a Tāne

Toitū te marae a Tangaroa

Toitū te iwi

Ngāi Tātou o Pōneke, me noho ngātahi Whāia te aratika

Our challenge

Protect and enhance the realms of the Land and the Waters, and they will sustain and strengthen the People.

People of Wellington, together we decide our way forward.

Wellington City Council joins hundreds of other cities around in the world in declaring a State of Climate and Ecological Emergency accepting local and international scientific evidence that there remains around a decade to take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid disastrous consequences.

The Council believes that ecological and social systems must survive for the benefit of present and future generations as well as other species.

We also recognise that the breakdown of the climate is already damaging fragile ecosystems with significant economic, social and environmental consequences including more severe storms, sea level rise, loss of biodiversity and negative impacts on human health.

Wellington City Council commits to the following:

1. Providing strong and effective leadership based on the best scientific knowledge in partnership with tangata whenua and mana whenua and with ongoing collaboration and consultation with the scientific community, business, citizen groups, central government, government agencies, and communities on climate change;
2. Adopting and implementing Te Atakura First to Zero which aims to ensure that Wellington is a net zero emission city by 2050 with a commitment to making the most significant cuts in the first 10 years.
3. Significantly reducing fossil fuel use by 2030 as well as finding solutions to reduce or capture more methane;
4. Working with relevant Wellington regional bodies to achieve the above aims;
5. Developing an accountability framework to measure the impact of our actions to achieve net zero emissions and to halt the decline of our ecosystems, especially over the next decade.