Climate change: Auckland Council struggling to spend action budget
Auckland Council is struggling to get its funded climate action plan up and running, with only $900,000 of a $10.5 million budget spent halfway through the first year. Only five of 12 work streams due funding this year are on track as the council finds itself up against delays, some due to Covid-19 . In addition a constrained and competitive market for climate and sustainability professionals has impacted our ability to attract and recruit suitable candidates to deliver projects, a council finance update for the half year to December 31 said. The $10 million was to be spent by July this year in the first part of a 10-year $152 million programme, which was signed off with some fanfare in the councils Long Term Plan in mid-2021. READ MORE: * How much climate change action do you get for $1 billion? * Auckland Council budget out for consultation, 6% rate rise for average home mooted * Covid-19: Omicron and the threat it poses to Auckland climate action Richard Hills, who chairs the councils environment and climate change committee, said things had picked up since the December 31 figures, at which point three of the six months had been spent in lockdown . Recruitment has been really difficult with low unemployment , and competing with government agencies and the private sector, Hills said. We have approved $3 million for the Vibrant Streets programme Im feeling we will be able to ramp up quicker. Money not spent this year would flow into next year and not be lost, as most was tagged to work which had been publicly consulted upon, he said. The $152 million 10-Year package was already a compromise , with an alternative climate investment plan of $320 million which would have had double the impact not offered as an option in consultation. The climate budget will be supplemented this year by a proposed climate action targeted rate of about $58 a year for a median-value home. The climate action spending is to help the council achieve a commitment to halve carbon emissions by 2030, compared with 2016 levels. The council also aims to be net carbon-neutral by 2050. Climate is not the only part of the councils budget which is struggling to be spent, with $46 million earmarked for running costs so far unspent due to Covid-19 delays and recruitment woes. Separately, a climate action coalition, All Aboard, is seeking a judicial review of the citys 10-year regional land transport plan, which on its own is estimated to boost transport emissions by 6 per cent by 2031.