A proposal to fund three people who would have the sole remit of trying to mitigate climate change in the region is to be tweaked. Photo / File
A proposal to fund three people who would have the sole remit of trying to mitigate climate change in the region is to be tweaked. Photo / File
A proposal to fund a new group solely focused on mitigating climate change in Hawke's Bay is set to be tweaked after robust debate.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council councillor Rick Barker submitted a proposal to create a new group called Climate Mitigation Hawke's Bay (CMHB) to tackle the region's declaredclimate emergency.
His notice of motion, which was discussed at a meeting of the Environment and Integrated Catchments Committee on Wednesday, said there was a "lack of organised and structured activity" focused on mitigating the effects of the climate change at a regional level.
Barker recommended CMHB have a minimum staff of three, with the necessary facilities and support to be effective, with initial funding from the Regional Disaster Damage Relief Fund in the early stages.
The CMHB would be a "semi-autonomous unit, similar to Civil Defence, which will have a governance structure of regional council chair, the region's four mayors and the chair of Ngāti Kahungunu iwi", according to Barker.
However, HBRC chief executive James Palmer questioned creating an operational structure funded solely by the regional council under the governance of others.
"If it's going to be collectively governed, we'd like to see it collectively resourced," he said.
"It's fair to say that all the councils in the region recognise that they need to collaborate on climate change. There is a desire to increase our activity."
Palmer added: "There is activity going on in the private sector, activity going on at national level and we would want to understand all of that and how this fits in before recommending that a proposition such as this proceed."
Councillors agreed to refer the motion to the next HBRC meeting on July 29 to give time for further consideration and to form a report of a new funding proposal and advice from the region's mayors.
Councillor Rick Barker has put forward a motion to create a new group focused on Hawke's Bay climate mitigation. Photo / File
Barker said the "adaptation" to his motion will be welcomed.
"We don't give the idea away, but we might have to reinvent it and readapt it," he said.
"I sense that around this table there is a strong will to do stuff. I don't sense that anybody is against it. We just need to refine our processes."
Hawke's Bay Regional Council declared a climate emergency on June 27, 2019.
The CMHB would be able to bring forward proposals to the regional council and Government on policies and initiatives that will attempt to alleviate the effects of climate change in the region.
Barker noted that: "The region has an obligation to do its very best to mitigate the effects of climate change and this council and region will be judged not on what it said about climate change but what it did."
