What council is doing

Including consideration of emissions impacts into decision making

In decision-making papers, advice and business cases, we will identify when actions or investments will have a significant impact on emissions. Where there are significant impacts, we will identify and assess the costs and benefits of options to reduce emissions.

Reducing construction emissions and building energy efficient buildings and infrastructure

Council will implement measures to ensure that emissions reduction opportunities are considered early in the planning and design of large building and infrastructure projects, including use lower emissions design, low carbon building materials, low energy construction methods, waste minimisation, and the energy efficient design for buildings and infrastructure.

Encouraging innovation and emission reduction through procurement and contracts

We will adopt procurement and contracting processes that encourage and recognise emissions reduction opportunities – providing the option to assess the benefit of emissions reductions against the additional the costs.

Responsible financial investment

We will ensure that council’s financial investment activities are socially and environmentally responsible, and compatible with net-zero emissions.

We have adopted emissions reduction targets that are in-line with current national emissions budgets and 2050 targets.

Council’s asset managers and planners will identify options to reduce their emissions in their areas to meet these targets through asset management planning and investment business cases.

We will ensure that costs of measures to reduce emissions don’t outweigh the benefits, by assessing the cost of options against the NZ Treasury’s ‘shadow carbon price’. If the cost to reduce emissions is more than this price, it indicates that there are likely to be better alternatives to reduce emissions.

We will identify a programme of investment across all of Council’s activities to reduce emissions in line with our emissions reduction targets.

Council will partner with other councils, government agencies, Iwi, businesses, and community organisations to achieve the greatest and most efficient reduction of emissions.

Council will acknowledge the interconnectedness and interrelationship of all living and non-living things when looking at emissions reduction initiatives. Council will take a holistic approach, seeking to understand the total system, not just parts of it. Council will embrace Kaitiakitanga (guardianship of the land) – an intergenerational duty to restore and increase the mauri (life force, vitality) of our land and water, and to nurture the reciprocal relationship between tangata (people) and the whenua (land).