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 Strategy and 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.
"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.
READ WHY: Alan Taylor: Why I'm urging Whanganui District Council to declare a climate emergency
"People understand that emergencies are immediate, and it is immediate in terms of the climate," 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.
"We can do small things in Whanganui. Individuals will be encouraged to do small stuff. It's all got to be affordable."
READ MORE:
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• It's official: Auckland has a climate emergency
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.
Like Taylor, McDouall was disappointed with his council's watered down "impending crisis" wording.
"I think if you are going to make a statement like that you go the whole hog and declare an emergency," McDouall said.
Events of the summer made the time ripe to debate the issue again, he said.
If a majority declare or acknowledge an emergency it will override the previous decision.
If not, "impending crisis" remains.