Are councils walking the talk with the 'climate emergency'?

Friday, 24 May 2019

Canterbury's regional council declared a climate emergency - and the Christchurch City Council followed suit.

What does a declaration of a climate emergency really mean for local councils? PAUL GORMAN investigates.

The excitement of watching dominoes toppling, passing energy down the line from one to the next, is always followed by the anti-climax of them lying flat on their faces.

It's a blunt comparison to make with the increasingly urgent persuasion from groups such as Extinction Rebellion (XR) Ōtautahi for local authorities to declare a 'climate emergency'.

Mykaila Lewis, Zac Fagg and Rosie Fagg holding placards during the gathering to witness the decision by ECan councillors on declaring a 'climate emergency'.

But for the councils now pronouncing these emergencies, the issue is: how do they show it is more than just symbolic?

Both Environment Canterbury (ECan) and the Christchurch City Council (CCC) say they are already putting climate change at the front and centre of their work and their emergency declarations will not drastically alter what they do.

A protest sign at the Environment Canterbury offices building says it all.

* Environment Canterbury applauded for declaring region-wide 'climate emergency'

* 'Climate emergency' vote one of Environment Canterbury's biggest moments

* Climate change plan aims to make Christchurch carbon neutral ahead of 2050 target

Ciara Foley, left, and Mia Sutherland, from the Christchurch School Strike 4 Climate team, address Christchurch City councillors on the urgency for action over climate change.

* City of polluters: Major changes needed to make Christchurch carbon neutral by 2050**

Conveniently, for those less convinced about the need for the emergency, a spectre is hovering in the background holding councils back from any rapid transitions. That is the effect such moves will have on council resourcing, ultimately leading to rates rises.

Climate activists young and old cheered as the Christchurch City Council took a historic decision to declare a climate and ecological emergency.

GLOBAL EMERGENCY

On Thursday afternoon Christchurch city councillors – with the exception of David East, James Gough and Aaron Keown – voted to declare a climate and ecological emergency, a week and a couple of hours after ECan became the first council in the country to do so, followed by Nelson City that afternoon.

Environment Canterbury says what it requires from farmers 'doesn't change as a result of this declaration'.

A climate emergency has now been adopted by about 500 cities around the world. The definition varies for each community and country, but there were several common themes:

A commitment to be carbon neutral as quickly as possible, usually adopting science-based targets which aim to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

A new low-emission bus fleet will soon be under consideration by Environment Canterbury.

A dedication to democracy and the need for a just and equitable transition [away from fossil fuels].
A willingness to share solutions and to join global movements that encourage climate action.

Before ECan councillors voted last week, chief executive Bill Bayfield warned them such an emergency did not carry 'any statutory or legal weight for future council decisions'.

His paper recommended councillors declare a climate emergency but noted ECan 'already demonstrates leadership in the face of climate change' and also that climate change 'does not satisfy the definition of an 'emergency' under the Civil Defence and Emergency Management Act 2002'.

City councillors were told much the same; that a climate emergency 'should not be confused with a civil defence emergency… focused on immediate, shock events' that provide specific powers to authorities.

So does that mean it is largely symbolic?

ECan councillor Lan Pham says 'yes', to a certain extent; ECan chairman Steve Lowndes gets fired up insisting, 'It is an emergency.'

'I don't think it's mostly symbolic,' Lowndes says. 'I don't think it's a fad. The fact it's echoing around the world is saying something very loud to governments. The truth about climate change and all its ramifications has been well-known for over 40 years.

'But if we (ECan) try to do things radically different, you get held up by the Local Government Act, the Resource Management Act (RMA) and held up by rate increases.

'Climate change is all happening far more quickly than anticipated. We are now more than halfway down a dead-end street. We have to turn around and back up.

'This emergency – if it makes people all over Canterbury think, then that is the power of it.'

Pham says by declaring an emergency, ECan is making a difference.

'It can result in a snowball effect, like the Nuclear-Free New Zealand movement. Everyone saw they had a role in contributing towards that – it was essentially a change in public sentiment that we went through as a nation.

'People say New Zealand is too small, it doesn't matter if we do anything or not.'

But Pham says a United Nations report found that together, small countries including New Zealand, 'contribute 20 to 30 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions'.

Veteran former Environment Court judge and ECan councillor Peter Skelton – whose speech supporting the declaration tipped the list of those in favour over to six councillors out of 11 last week – referred to the climate change work the regional council was already doing.

'We're already delivering and we're already committed,' he said, referring to a climate change declaration ECan and other councils had signed in 2017.

'The only difference … is the use of the word 'emergency'.'

RMA LIMITS

ECan programme manager strategy and planning management Samantha Elder says no new items have been added to its draft annual plan for 2019-20 as a result of the emergency. Neither will any be fast-tracked or given a higher priority.

'Priorities won't change because of the declaration, as it is already part of our daily work.

'What we require from farmers doesn't change as a result of this declaration. ECan already requires a huge amount of action from farmers, and new rules are coming in plan changes that are in process now, so the required action from farmers continues.'

Elder says the RMA 'specifically prevents us considering the effects of greenhouse gas emissions in terms of 'causing' climate change'. So ECan is 'unable to decline a consent, or put conditions on such as a maximum number of cows – on the basis that the methane emissions would be contributing to climate change.'

The most important work will remain the freshwater management and biodiversity portfolios, she says.

ECan introduced a climate-change integration programme into its long-term plan for 2018-28 to ensure a consistent approach and enable more information sharing.

Elder says the programme also aimed to make the council's climate-change work more visible.

In public transport, the regional council will soon be considering introducing a low-emission fleet, including lower-emission diesel vehicles and electric vehicles.

'The final outcome will need to be affordable. A low-emission fleet is one way to help reduce transport-related emissions although getting more people on to buses and out of single occupancy motor vehicles has the potential to make the biggest reduction in emissions.'

Rail has not been excluded from the mix, she says.

CARBON NEUTRAL TARGET

The city council's head of strategic policy, Emma Davis, says the council has a programme of work under way on climate change and by September should have developed a climate strategy and an accompanying carbon-neutral target by 2030, 20 years before the Government's deadline.

'Declaring a climate emergency is a tool for raising awareness and mobilising climate action.'

The city council has also joined the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, and says it sees climate-change leadership as a strategic priority.

Its vehicles have been electrified through a shared fleet with Yoogo, sustainability is a priority in its procurement policy and an objective of the Christchurch City Council Holdings Limited companies, the city's major cycleways are encouraging 'active transport' and the council has an eco-designer to help with the rebuild or design of new housing.

STUDENT IMPACT

University of Canterbury political scientist and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change author Bronwyn Hayward says it is easy to be pessimistic about the slow pace of political change.

'In the quality and nature of the [city] council debate, it was striking to think how far we have come, in that every councillor understood and acknowledged the gravity of the situation, they merely differed in the best ways to tackle it at a practical level. I think the school students' strike in particular probably added moral weight to the decision and many councillors noted the need to consider future generations.

'While I personally am never a great fan of declarations of emergency – I feel we rarely, if ever, make our best, most informed, democratic or thoughtful decisions under states of emergency – in this case I was reassured and impressed that all our councillors were very careful to acknowledge the global crisis we face and the need to work with people, and to focus on urban solutions with people and not impose solutions from the top down.'

But city councillor Gough is dubious.

'To be perfectly frank, I don't think it means anything. If a local authority is going to be able to demonstrate that what they have done is not just touchy-feely, meaningless grandstanding, they will have to do things differently. That requires a lot of resourcing.

'That means you have just given a council approval to increase rates without ratepayers being consulted.

'I believe climate change is real. Just doing things for the sake of it, or making over-the-top statements, doesn't help. A climate emergency is a relatively blunt instrument being applied across the globe.

'The city council has been top of class in developing policies for climate change. We have shown real leadership here. We have a goal to be carbon neutral by 2030, a full 20 years earlier than our country.'

Pham believes local government is failing on the intergenerational front. She says the young people pushing for change are those who need to be on councils.

'Actually, we need this kind of leadership now. We are not recognising the urgency of the issue and we are actually deciding these things for future generations.

'The clarity that is coming from young people is astounding.'

Lowndes says he understands how strongly school children feel about the issue.

'The school kids are like I was with the Cold War in the 1950s, and they are terrified.

'I sympathise hugely.'