OAG report assesses council work on climate change
Published on 08 November 2024
An Office of the Auditor-General report released this week said Whanganui District Council is actively responding to climate change risks and commended the council’s community-led approach to climate resilience, while noting areas for improvement.
The report reviewed climate action initiatives for four councils of different sizes and types around New Zealand – Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury), Christchurch City Council, Nelson City Council and Whanganui District Council.
The aim was to understand how well councils are moving beyond climate change strategies and high-level commitments to taking action, with the hope that this would provide useful lessons for other councils.
Rather than reviewing a council’s whole climate change work programme, the auditors selected key actions to investigate – in Whanganui’s case, the coastal work at Castlecliff and the stormwater network upgrade.
Whanganui District Council’s chief executive, David Langford, welcomed the report, noting its insights and suggestions for improvement.
“Overall the report concluded that councils in New Zealand are making progress on responding to climate change but could do more.
“Whanganui District Council adopted a climate change strategy in 2021 and we have been working on bringing that strategy to life through delivering council’s first carbon audit and emissions reduction plan to save money and reduce carbon, launching a Community Climate Action Fund, and completing a hazard and risk assessment, amongst other climate change actions.”
Like other councils, Whanganui District Council is carrying out a climate change risk assessment to better understand the effects of climate change on local infrastructure and the community. The initial focus of Whanganui’s risk assessment – due at the end of 2024 – is council facilities, assets and reserves; it will later expand to cover the wider community and district.
“Mid-last year our council made a decision to support Ngā Ringaringa Waewae, a community and hapū cooperative, to lead community conversations on the rejuvenation of the North Mole and the Castlecliff part of the Coastal Action Plan work.
“The auditors saw this and suggested that other councils might be interested in this approach of empowering their communities to lead on engagement,” David Langford says.
The auditors also noted the community involvement in our Healthy Streams Initiative, where the council supports the community to lead on keeping waterways clean and tidy. The Healthy Streams initiative is part of the council’s 30-year stormwater network upgrade started in 2017.
“We’re fortunate to have an amazing community with people who are passionate about our environment,” David Langford says.
In terms of improvements, the report recommended that the council update its climate change strategy so it sets out clear priorities that correspond more closely with its work direction. It also recommended that the council introduces performance measures for key climate actions apart from those already introduced through the council’s recent Long-Term Plan.
Auditor General John Ryan says for councils, climate change and its impacts are likely to be the most enduring and pervasive challenge they will face, extending beyond council boundaries and across multiple electoral terms.
“Clear strategies, a constancy of purpose, resourcing, and community support will be needed over many years – and decades – to come. Responding to climate change will also require co-ordination between central and local government, and with business and communities. None of this is easy.”
David Langford says the council is pleased to have been part of the review.
“The report offers us an in-depth look at how some other councils are tackling similar challenges and provides food for thought for our future direction.”