The digital version of Auckland’s Climate Plan (Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri) is online.
CTA was one of the submitters to this plan and our submission is here.
The launch of the digital plan was marked by a climate action focussed Auckland Conversation: So, Auckland has a climate plan… now what? A recording of the discussion is here. See also Our Auckland.
The Mayoral Proposal for the ten-year budget was released on 1 December and approved as the basis for public consultation on 9 December. It includes a proposal to increase spending on programmes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and respond to climate impacts by $150 million.
Key outcomes of the proposal include:
· no more diesel buses added to the existing fleet from 1 July 2021 and working with government to achieve a 50% electric and hydrogen fleet by 2030
· significantly expanding Auckland’s resource recovery network to divert more waste from landfill and encourage a more circular economy,
· increasing investment into regional partnerships and planting 11,000 street trees and converting hectares of farmland to native forest.
Public consultation on the ten year-budget is due in February and March 2021
A new Oxfam report, Standing With the Frontlines, has analysed New Zealand’s climate finance for frontline countries and its fair share of the US100bn goal under the Paris Agreement. Oxfam has concluded that what NZ contributes is far from our fair share of the goal set by developed countries back in 2010 and affirmed under the Paris Agreement. We currently rank 23rd out of 25 developed countries for finance provided per person, or 14th when the grant and grant equivalent of donor contributions is included, providing NZ$10.60 per capita per year in climate finance, or just under NZ$51m per year in total. The government’s goal is to provide NZ$75m a year in climate finance through to 2022 but this amount remains far behind what would be a fair share. Oxfam calculates that New Zealand’s fair share of the US$100bn goal would range between NZ$301.5m and $540m per year.
This report is part of Oxfam’s Big Hearts campaign, pushing for a boost to the overall overseas development budget, which climate finance falls within, in budget 2021. Support this campaign by signing the petition at www.bighearts.org.nz/take-action