39 NZ Mayors Sign Declaration

At the Local Government Conference last weekend 39 Mayors signed a commitment to tackle climate change.  Well done to the Hauraki District Council Mayor John Tregida who signed the Mayoral Climate Change Declaration.  But it was very disappointing to see that Mayor Sandra Goudie did not sign the Declaration on behalf of the Thames-Coromandel District Council, especially when the Declaration made a particular point of asking for more effort from central government to tackle climate change.  This is something that Mayor Goudie had been strongly advocating for herself in recent weeks.  Waikato Regional Council also failed to sign the declaration.

The Declaration sets out some general principles and some specific commitments which the mayors and their councils have signed up to:-

We have come together, as a group of Mayors and Chairs representing local government from across New Zealand to:

1. acknowledge the importance and urgent need to address climate change ;
2. give our support to the New Zealand Government for developing and implementing, in collaboration with councils, communities and businesses, an ambitious transition plan toward a low carbon and resilient New Zealand;
3. encourage Government to be more ambitious with climate change mitigation measures;
4. outline key commitments our councils will take in responding to the opportunities and risks posed by climate change; and
5. recommend important guiding principles for responding to climate change. We ask that the New Zealand Government make it a priority to develop and implement an ambitious transition plan for a low carbon and resilient New Zealand.

We stress the benefits of early action to moderate the costs of adaptation to our communities. We are all too aware of challenges we face shoring up infrastructure and managing insurance costs. These are serious financial considerations for councils and their communities.

For our part we commit to:

1. Develop and implement ambitious action plans that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support resilience within our own councils and for our local communities. These plans will:
2. promote walking, cycling, public transport and other low carbon transport options;
3. work to improve the resource efficiency and health of homes, businesses and infrastructure in our district; and
4. support the use of renewable energy and uptake of electric vehicles.
5. Work with our communities to understand, prepare for and respond to the physical impacts of climate change.
6. Work with central government to deliver on national emission reduction targets and support resilience in our communities.

It’s not too late for the Thames-Coromandel District Council and Waikato Regional Council to sign up to the Declaration and join the more progressive councils around the country.

Why not write to the Mayor and Councillors and urge them to do so.