About this decision
Te Atakura – First to Zero is our response to the climate and ecological emergency we declared in 2019, but it is not yet funded.
What's the background to this decision?
Wellington City Council has joined hundreds of other cities around in the world in declaring a State of Climate and Ecological Emergency, accepting local and international scientific evidence that there remains about a decade to take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to avoid disastrous consequences.
Our ambitious target of being a net zero carbon city by 2050 means we have to reduce our emissions significantly in this decade (the national target is half by 2030). This is essential to ensuring Wellington is a place where human society can flourish in future decades and centuries.
The biggest change to our emissions will come when people get onto their feet, bikes or a bus - or into an electric car! Work on the cycleways network and how we design our city are all part of that change. The full benefits of these won’t occur this decade.
Therefore, in addition to those big pieces of work, we propose to fully fund Council’s climate change action plan, which includes:
- Converting our vehicle fleet to electric cars
- Greening our building projects
- Supporting car sharing and electric vehicle charging
- Home Energy Saver grants
- Business Energy Saver grants
- Wellington Climate Lab
- Climate and Sustainability Fund
There are three options
| Option 1: Low Level of Funding | Option 2: Medium Investment with Savings | Option 3: Fully Fund the programme (preferred) | ||
This is a low funding option that is significantly below what is outlined in the Te Atākura action plan. It will mean a significant reduction in the scope of all planned initiatives. The difference between this option and Option 2 is a significant reduction in outward facing programmes that support others to take climate action, lower levels of funding for community engagement and initiative development. This level of funding is likely to deliver only half of the reduction in estimated emissions of Option 3. | This is a medium level of funding, below what is outlined in the Te Atākura action plan. The difference between this option and Option 3 is:
| This option provides full funding for the Te Atākura action plan (not including Let’s Get Wellington Moving or cycleways). This means we will be able to work toward reducing our emissions by the full amount planned for this decade. We will also be able to investigate new actions needed and respond to the climate change impacts that we are already seeing in the city. | ||
| Capital cost and debt impact: $6.7m (over 10 years) | Same as Option 1 | Capital cost and debt impact: $9.1m (over 10 years) | ||
| Rates change 0.65% 3 year average increase | Rates change: 0.94% 3 year average increase | Rates change: 1.03% 3 year average increase |
Our preferred option
The Council prefers Option 3 - to fully fund Te Atakura. This will enable us to work towards reducing our emissions by the full amount planned for this decade.
Want to know more about our 7 big decisions? Head back to our Long-term Plan homepage or read our full consultation document.
