The most beautiful of the most beautiful are the days which seem to dawn more slowly. Clouds of different heights and appearance catch the sun’s rays at different times and scatter bands of vivid colour across the heavens, which fade only gradually as daylight progresses.
The magnificence of a slow dawning is not restricted to the natural world. Sometimes, much more is learnt, and the final outcome can be more robust and well-considered, when it involves a late or tardy conversion to a cause. "Good things take time," the cheesy old adage says.
Good news this week then on the better-late-than-never front that, four years after declaring a climate emergency, the Dunedin City Council has finally made a big step forward on residents’ behalf and adopted its draft 2030 zero-carbon emissions plan.
Unfortunately, the good news is accompanied inevitably by the bad when it comes to taking so much time to start cutting greenhouse gases.
We have to wonder how much extra damage has been done locally, or ground lost, in the meantime, as the world struggles to offset the world’s rapidly rising temperatures and do as much as possible to avert a nightmare scenario of 2°C of warming by the end of the century above pre-industrial levels.
The draft carbon-neutral strategy for consideration in the council’s draft 2024-34 long-term plan was voted in 11-4 at Monday’s meeting.
Only Crs Bill Acklin, Kevin Gilbert, Lee Vandervis and Andrew Whiley voted against it, with Cr Whiley abstaining on two other motions regarding the speed of the plan’s possible implementation.
Cr Vandervis told the meeting he believed carbon-zero was akin to a new religion, and said it appeared the plan was meant to "send us back to the Stone Age", conjuring up images of said councillor driving Fred Flintstone’s foot-powered vehicle through the streets of central Dunedin.
Even though Mayor Jules Radich recommended an initially slower speed investment in the plan, which was lost by 9-5 votes, he quite rightly said "the main thing is that we do get started".
Cr David Benson-Pope said the "low scenario is no scenario" worth pursuing, and Cr Christine Garey pushed for boldness, considering there was "no time to lose".
She is absolutely right. It is indisputable that we must act now and as quickly as possible. We need to do as much as we can to keep that global temperature rise this century to 1.5°C.
The zero-carbon plan is largely aimed at transport emissions. The difference in spending over six years between the proposed high- and low-investment scenarios was estimated at about $50 million.
Dunedin’s carbon emissions mostly come from agriculture — 46% in 2021-22 — and transport — 34%. Of that chunk of transport contribution, 48.1% is from cars, 31.9% from light commercial vehicles and only 2.2% comes from buses.
Given the urgent, and overdue, need for this kind of action, it comes as little surprise that the public have played an active role in the debate so far. University of Otago marine science Prof Abby Smith told the council meeting climate change is "right here and it’s right now".
"This is certain – it will get worse. We are neither preventing disaster, nor prepared for it when it comes."
Residents concerned about progress on climate mitigation were also there to welcome councillors on Monday as they made their way to the meeting.
In terms of delayed epiphanies, we have to recognise there are still climate-change deniers out there.
It’s likely their numbers will drop off, as natural attrition takes a toll or they finally realise they are on a hiding to nothing with their views. But as they become fewer, they could generate more noise to make up for their dwindling numbers.
Just what science and common sense will it take to make them recognise, even in a non-blamestorming way, how the climate is changing?
