Councillor Alan Taylor spoke at the Strike 4 Climate at Whanganui's Majestic Square last year. Photo / File
Councillor Alan Taylor spoke at the Strike 4 Climate at Whanganui's Majestic Square last year. Photo / File
Whanganui District Council will again consider declaring a climate emergency, with one councillor forcing it back on the agenda.
The proposed emergency declaration will be tabled at next Tuesday's meeting by councillor Alan Taylor, who says climate change is "very real and very scary".
In August, the previous council's Strategyand Finance Committee voted to declare a watered-down version - "an impending crisis" - because it could not get the numbers to declare a "climate emergency", which councils, including Kāpiti Coast, Wellington City, Porirua, Environment Canterbury, Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Hawke's Bay, have done.
Taylor said he preferred the word "emergency" to "crisis".
Since then a lot more information has been made available, Taylor told the Chronicle.
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"It's ... very real and very scary. We are all going to die and we are losing 200 species a day on the land, and it's all human activity doing that," he said.
Taylor said such a declaration would make people think and meant climate would sit at the top of council thought processes when decisions - such as about public transport, or houses suitable for the changing climate - were made.
But he said there might not be immediate and dramatic effects. Most of that would come from central government.
Councillor Alan Taylor wants climate change elevated to an emergency by Whanganui District Council. Photo / Bevan Conley
"We can do small things in Whanganui. Individuals will be encouraged to do small stuff. It's all got to be affordable."
One of Whanganui's growth industries is the council-backed New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy and Taylor said he a questioned supporters about the climate impact of the aviation industry.
"Their comment was they're aware of it and would be prepared to move to electric planes," he said.
Whanganui was lucky to have a benign climate, he said, with few extremes.
He was disappointed Horizons Regional Council made climate change "a serious issue that needs significant attention" rather than an emergency, when it was debated in November.
