When Auckland Council declared a climate emergency last year, Waitematā Local Board warmly welcomed this decision.
The local board had recently passed a notice of motion in support of a climate emergency declaration for the Auckland region.
Global unrest around a lack of political action on climate change had seen waves of protest take place, including student strikes and mass occupations.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had released a report revealing that a temperature increase of only 1.5 degrees could result in unprecedented risks and weather events, while emission trends suggested that we are facing a global temperature increase of over three degrees.
Waitematā Local Board Chair Richard Northey says it takes political will to reduce emissions, combined with tangible action from business and community effort.
Chair Northey says the local board has made its response to climate change a priority over the last several years by promoting active transport, supporting projects such as the Waitematā Low Carbon Network and community gardens, as well as initiatives to reduce food waste from businesses and encourage urban composting.
“Now more than ever, we need to take decisive action on climate change and increase the resiliency of our communities.
“We’re currently seeking feedback on our draft Local Board Plan, which will guide our work over the next three years.
“Throughout our draft plan, we’ve woven our response to climate change.
“We want to increase the biodiversity of our land, streams and ocean, support Waitematā to be a low carbon community, increase our urban ngahere, improve air and water quality, and minimise waste wherever we can.
“In our draft plan, we’ve outlined a number of initiatives we think will help do this. But we need input from our communities to make sure we’ve got it right.
“So please get involved in our community consultation and tell us what you think.”
Have your say on the Waitematā Local Board’s climate emergency response and the rest of the draft plan at: akhaveyoursay.co.nz/lovelocal
Feedback closes on Thursday 13 August.
