The Otago Regional Council has renewed a commitment to Dunedin’s Zero Carbon Alliance, but will recommend amendments to ensure it is not obliged to follow Dunedin City Council targets.
A revised memorandum of understanding (MoU) was presented at yesterday’s full council meeting, to be signed by chairman Andrew Noone.
The city council-led initiative aims to reduce city-wide emissions in collaboration with major institutions in the city.
It aims to give effect to the Zero Carbon 2030 Target, which an accompanying report in the meeting agenda said was the target adopted by the city council and developed with input from members, as opposed to Net Zero Carbon by 2030.
Report co-author and principal climate change adviser Francisco Hernandez said city council staff were "doing some scoping work" to understand what the right targets should be for the city.
"2030 is still, as I understand it, the aspirational goal," he said.
Councillors raised concerns the targets were unclear and they did not know if they would be committed to them under the updated MoU.
Cr Michael Laws said the targets were not worded as being aspirational. This was echoed by Cr Hillary Calvert, who questioned whether the regional council had handed over its decision-making.
The council agreed to recommend the agreement be changed to specify 2030 was an "aspirational target".
The regional council declined to declare a climate emergency in 2019, but said minimising carbon emissions would be a high priority. It joined the alliance in June last year.
A report included in the meeting agenda said the agreement was back before the council for noting because a "significant amount of time" had elapsed.
"Since June 23, 2021, staff across the foundation group have been working to finalise the terms of reference and engage with runaka on the most appropriate way to represent mana whenua," the report said.
"The biggest change in the draft MoU and this final version is the way in which runaka will engage with the alliance, which will be through respective parties’ existing relationship and collaboration mechanisms, rather than being separate members."
The membership of the alliance in the draft MoU included Kati Huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki and Otakou Runaka.
However, the Dunedin runaka are no longer listed as members in the MoU before the council yesterday.
The report to councillors notes runaka want to be "kept appraised of activity under the alliance" instead.
Other changes to the MoU included a concrete definition of "emissions profile" in a new clause and the changing of alliance member Southern District Health Board to new entity Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand Southern.
The other parties to the agreement named on the MoU are the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic.
The MoU has also been updated to refer to the Zero Carbon Alliance rather than the Zero Carbon 2030 Alliance.
"The Zero Carbon 2030 Target means the city-wide emissions reduction target adopted by the DCC and developed with input from members of the [alliance], as opposed to Net Zero Carbon by 2030," the report said.
Councillors appointed the chief executive, Dr Pim Borren, as the regional council’s representative on the collaboration group.
The next step would be to arrange the signing of the MoU and contacting the city council to inform them the council had ratified the agreement, the report said.
