There has been a recent fad for councils around the country to declare climate emergencies, but these declarations are at risk of being seen as ‘me too’ posturing without any significant change – in fact there are indications that some councils are walking a different walk, and expect others to actually do something about climate change and it’s effects.
Stuff: Councils declare climate emergencies, but will it result in any real change?
Councils around the the country are declaring climate change emergencies, but questions are being raised over whether the move will create any tangible change.
Scientists and activists believe the declarations will be meaningless unless they’re backed up by solid action, offsetting criticism the measures were purely tokenistic.
Hutt City Council became the latest in an ever-growing list of local government agencies in declaring a climate crisis on Thursday, joining Wellington City, Hawke’s Bay, Kāpiti and Porirua councils.
Wellington city councillors opposed to the emergency declaration claimed the measure was “preachy” “nonsense” and an example of “green-washing”.
While Victoria University Wellington climate scientist James Renwick believed the move “put a stake in the ground” and underscored the seriousness of the issue – he said definitive action was needed.
Local Government NZ president Dave Cull said councils were at the “front line” of combating climate change, but there was “no national framework” for how local bodies should tackle the issue.
Really? beyond the talk and the declarations, is much actually being done?
Some things are being tried, but they could be counter productive. Cull is mayor of Dunedin, where there has been a program of installing cycle lanes around the flat parts of the city, but there are scant numbers of cyclists to be seen on most of these, and traffic congestion has worsened – which increases use of fossil fuels.
“Declaring a climate emergency acts as a catalyst for urgent action. It’s a way for councils to increase focus on this issue, and call for greater national support on climate change adaptation.”
Cull’s own council has just declared an emergency: DCC votes to declare climate emergency
At a full council meeting which began at 1pm, councillors voted 9-5 to declare the emergency and accelerate efforts to become a carbon neutral city.
The council had aimed to reach a net zero carbon target by 2050, but would bring that forward to 2030, councillors decided.
Most councillors spoke strongly in support of declaring the emergency, while only Crs Lee Vandervis, Mike Lord and Andrew Whiley argued against it.
Cr Aaron Hawkins said the council had been hearing from “countless” people and organisations for years, calling for action.
Progress had been too slow “and meanwhile the clock is ticking”.
“This needs to be at the front and center of all of our decision-making. A business-as-usual approach is not just inadequate, it’s effectively intergenerational theft.”
Mayor Dave Cull also backed the move, saying the city needed to keep pace with the changing scientific consensus to avoid “a point of no return”.
“The cost to council is not whether we do. The cost to council will be if we don’t do anything.”
That sounds like standard Green rhetoric.
The debate prior to the vote was stacked with pro-emergency spokespeople.
There were applause and cheers as Jennifer Shulzitski, of Extinction Rebellion, urged councillors to act now.
But the applause grew louder still as four young pupils from North East Valley school boiled the issue down to blunt terms.
But this declaration clashes with Dunedin City Council flying high with third highest travel expenditure in country
The Dunedin City Council has racked up the third highest spend on travel expenditure among all New Zealand councils.
It spent $347,885 on air travel in 2017-18 – $214,067 on domestic travel and $133,818 on international.
That puts Dunedin third behind much the much larger councils of Auckland (which spent $1,221,571) and Wellington ($591,310).
A council spokesman told Stuff there were several reasons contributing to the air travel expenditure, including the council’s size and geographical location.
“Many important meetings, conferences, training courses are held in Auckland or Wellington, and are therefore not easily accessible by other modes of transport.”
The spokesman said while the council did not currently offset travel emissions, “we do have a range of strategies and initiatives in place aimed at reducing carbon emissions across the city”.
The council’s declaration of a climate emergency and bringing forward its goal to be a net carbon zero city by 2030 would also “make us look even harder at where we can reduce our travel costs and/or offset travel emissions”.
Something more substantial than ‘looking ‘even harder’ is required to match their climate emergency rhetoric.
Also last week QLDC declares climate emergency
The Queenstown Lakes District Council has voted to declare a climate emergency after a presentation by Extinction Rebellion Queenstown Lakes.
Good on Extinction Rebellion for getting into the act here as they did in Dunedin, but again this is one-sided public consultation.
Members of the public were packed into the council meeting this afternoon where the motion was passed 7-4 as part of the council’s consideration of its Draft Climate Action Plan.
Extinction Rebellion said in a statement last week it was “asking the council to use its role as a community leader to clearly communicate the reality of what we are facing and what needs to happen to our local community.”
Queenstown growth relies on tourism which relies to a major extent on air travel, so QLDC is not likely to make major moves against the use of fossil fuels.
The QLDC also narrowly voted 6-5 to receive Queenstown Airport Corporation’s controversial Statement of Intent (SOI), while inserting a clause requiring ongoing discussions over possible expansion.
So QLDC has voted in support of a possible airport extension whole voting for action on climate change.
It is election year for mayors and councillors, so a ramp up in climate rhetoric is to be expected.
Significant action is less likely, and talk of the costs of actions is likely to be avoided at all costs. Rate rises is a contentious enough issue as it is.
Someone else talking the talk was Robert Guyton in this podcast – Maureen Howard’s Eco Living in Action – 27-06-2019 – Declare a State of Climate Emergency – Robert Guyton, Councillor, Environment Southland
Robert is one who does more than talk the talk.