Regional council Horizons has formed a new committee to tackle climate change.
Regional council Horizons has formed a new committee to tackle climate change.
A new committee formed to tackle climate change issues at regional council Horizons is a step in the right direction, but should have happened much sooner.
That's the view of Horizons Regional councillor Sam Ferguson, who said the Joint Climate Action Committee will now give the region a unified response to climate change - and not before time.
"The science has been clear on this since the 1980s and it has taken over 35 years for our councils to respond in a unified way. There is a lot of work to do and it is urgent work," he said.
The Joint Climate Action Committee, which will include representatives from iwi, Horizons and seven territorial authorities, will oversee action on climate change across the region and will hold its inaugural meeting on March 30.
"A changing climate introduces more risk and uncertainty to our infrastructure and our primary industries. Growing vegetables in the Horowhenua may one day not be possible with a changing climate.
"Our native plants and animals may not be able to adapt to a fast changing environment.
Horizons Regional councillor Sam Ferguson.
"At the same time, as a region and a nation, we continue to produce climate warming gases from everything we do. Including how we build our homes and towns, the food we eat, and how we travel around our towns and cities."
Horowhenua District Council has joined other district councils in signing a Memorandum of Understanding, to work together in response to climate change, and a regional risk assessment to identify climate-related impacts is currently under way.
The joint committee will receive the risk assessment's finding later this year.
"A unified regional response can help us plan with urgency to change direction, transport is one obvious area we can focus and there are plenty of others.
"Bringing together the leaders of our region we can work together and find ways to significantly reduce our emissions and ensure our vulnerable people and environment are protected."
"Involving iwi from the outset is important and I'm glad that has been recognised.
"Climate change is not an issue that we will just see in the future, it is an issue we are seeing today. The gradual change of environmental behaviour impacts us in small but lasting ways.
"Our Pacific neighbours are experiencing sea level rise and loss of land. Our Australian neighbours have experienced wildfires on a level not seen before.
"We continue to see more extreme weather events across the country. Aotearoa has now recorded four years in a row without any month having below average temperatures."
Horizons Regional Council chairwoman Rachel Keedwell says climate change was a one of the biggest environmental challenges it faced.
Horzions Regional Council chairwoman Rachel Keedwell.
"While we are uncertain about the pace and scale of climate change, we do know that the Horizons Region is already being affected by increasing temperatures, changes to rainfall patterns, river flows, increased drought, and ongoing sea-level rise," she said.
"This joint committee has been established to ensure an effective local government response to climate change in our region. The committee's objectives include the development of a regional Climate Action Plan for adoption by the member councils.
"A changing climate affects our economy and way of life. By working together we can make our communities more resilient and reduce the overall costs associated with climate change."
