Wilson disappointed by climate change response

Frustrated and disappointed is how one councillor feels about the Otago Regional Council’s response to climate change.

A carbon footprint calculator recommended by an environmental group to measure the region’s impact on the climate was passed up by the council.

Putting it off was a missed opportunity, Cr Kate Wilson said during an extraordinary finance committee meeting on Wednesday, called to deliberate annual plan submissions.

"We have pushed out climate change action for so long; this is one thing we should do for the ratepayers of Otago to understand their footprint and act.’’

In light of Covid-19, people had seen what change looked like and were more likely to question their own behaviour, she said.

The Wise Response Society, a group that promotes sustainable approaches to climate change challenges, compared existing New Zealand carbon accounting tools to assess which one would be most suitable for the ORC.

The group recommended the Eco Footprint and Future Fit programmes.

Council staff told the committee on Wednesday they wanted to look into the ORC’s internal footprint first and would consider options for a regional carbon calculator themselves.

Policy, Science, and Strategy general manager Gwyneth Elsum said the council had not done footprint work before, and looking into its internal emissions would give the council better understanding of how to respond to the information the tools provided.

The suggested calculator could use about $30,000 of the $70,000 budget for work on the region’s footprint and developing mitigation tactics, she said.

But Cr Wilson said she would have been happy to consider that amount had a suggestion been put forward by staff.

"I am really really frustrated and disappointed we are not prepared to put up [more money] ... if the $70,000 cannot do it, then let’s put the money up as a separate item,’’ she told the committee.

Chief executive Sarah Gardner said staff would need to look at other options to ensure they were getting what was best for the ORC.

But Cr Wilson believed this would undermine the work of Wise Response.

A motion during the meeting by Cr Michael Deaker, seconded by Cr Malcolm, asked staff to provide a report on council’s climate change progress by the end of 2020.

Cr Alexa Forbes said it "horrified’’ her the ORC did not have a climate change team and the council should look at its climate response options before the long-term plan.

Cr Kevin Malcolm was comfortable staff were making progress, but said the ORC should not underestimate the need to enable the public to measure their footprint.

Mrs Gardner said staff were on the same page as councillors.