Whangārei District declares climate change emergency

Low-lying areas of Whangārei's harbour and the coast should be better protected under the district council's climate change adaption strategy. Photo / File

The decision by Whangārei's council to declare a climate change emergency is more than a symbolic gesture considering much of the district is a coastal flood-prone zone.

So Mayor Sheryl Mai indicated at Thursday's Whangārei District Council (WDC) meeting, when the council became the latest local body to formally sound the alarm over climate change.

Whangārei is now one of 13 councils from Auckland to Dunedin to declare climate change emergencies.

With more than 270km of the district's coastline exposed to sea level rise, the council has already done work to identify the expected impact of sea-level rise on infrastructure.

As well as coastal settlements and suburbs being under threat, so is Whangārei riverside CBD, including the $26 million Hundertwasser Arts Centre, which is under construction.

On Thursday, the public gallery overflowed with members of the public reiterating support for the climate change declaration that was called for by activists, individuals and concerned groups at the June council meeting.

The Mayor had then tasked the council's chief executive to prepare the necessary way ahead.

Chris Bone, who runs a charity that helps communities dealing with climate change in Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, urged councillors to face up to Ministry for the Environment advice for Northland to prepare for sea level rises of up to 1.7m in the next 100 years.

"WDC must take action now, starting with a declaration for a climate change emergency and followed by the next years with urgent and meaningful action. Not to do so now will put a huge financial burden on future generations and I, for one, am not prepared to stand aside and let that happen," Bone said.

The council's new stance is not only a local statement of concern and intention, but a demand for the Government to take more leadership on climate change, and bring forward its deadline for reducing gases that cause climate change by 20 years.

The council will call for that in a submission to the Government's Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, which has a target of cutting the country's greenhouse gases (except biogenic methane) to net zero by 2050.

The emergency declaration was supported by Sharon Morgan, Crichton Christie, Tricia Cutforth, Gavin Benney, Greg Martin, Anna Murphy, Greg Innes, Cherry Hermon, Sue Glen and the mayor. Phil Halse and Shelley Deeming voted against it and Vince Cocurullo abstained.

"[The] declaration of a climate change emergency in the district reflects council's concerns about climate change, and recognises the speed and extent of the change in thinking and action needed to avoid the worst impacts of climate change," senior strategic planner Bernadette Aperahama said.

"Whangārei is a high-growth district with a long coastline, within a large region of dispersed communities.

"Many of our housing and business areas and much of our infrastructure [are] exposed to the risk of sea level rise, flooding and storm damage. It's not just about where we live and work, but also broader concerns such as how our children get to school, risks to marae, how people get to daily medical appointments, protecting our civil defence life lines.''

A district-level climate change adaptation work programme already underway will initially focus on the risk to core infrastructure before turning to community input on the wider impacts.

Under the declaration, Whangārei District Council:

• Acknowledges that climate change represents one of the greatest threats to the local community, biodiversity, economy and the life-supporting capacity of the planet.
• Advocates that this emergency requires urgent action by all levels of government.
• Acknowledges the council's important role and commits to an action plan to support the declaration.
• Commits to collaborate with central government, local councils, iwi, hapū, the business sector and communities to support collective action.
• Continues to implement its corporate sustainability strategy and to progress its climate change adaptation strategy.