Climate promises made overseas by Auckland mayor Wayne Brown need to be delivered at home
Todd Niall is the senior Auckland affairs reporter for Stuff. ANALYSIS: In May, mayor Wayne Brown represented Auckland at the World Climate Industry Expo in South Koreas Busan. Brown followed the footsteps of predecessor Phil Goff, travelling overseas to present Aucklands record on climate action and along with the leaders of six other world cities , signed the Joint Statement of the City Mayors Roundtable. The mayor committed to develop and implement greenhouse gas reduction plans to limit the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels. He also pledged active leadership in resolving climate change issues and expand cooperation to accelerate action to mitigate climate change READ MORE: * Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown set to travel 18,000km to climate conference in South Korea * Clock ticks on Auckland's climate deadline, but where is the 'urgent' action? * Auckland's place among climate-leading cities is in peril In a seven-minute presentation, Brown outlined Aucklands track record on the topic, from declaring a climate emergency in 2019 , the creation of the Climate Action Targeted Rate and last years adoption of the Transport Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP). Apart from a media release noting that Brown was going overseas with councillor Richard Hills, and the councils now-departed chief sustainability officer Matthew Blaikie, its a trip thats barely been mentioned. Its encouraging that Brown - elected in October 2022 after the political legwork had been done on climate policy - has endorsed the citys pathway to emissions reduction. However, the mayor will need to demonstrate in coming months that there is substance behind what hes put his name to before an international audience. Delivering Aucklands commitment to halve carbon emissions will largely depend on implementing TERP a plan that requires a halving of driving and a nine-fold increase in public transport patronage, from the point at which TERP was signed off. Not only is the plan itself highly challenging, but getting movement on it, by the councils doing agency Auckland Transport, is also looking a challenge. AT has not yet done as councillors asked and delivered an early action plan for the first two years from August 2022. The agency is instead pointing to not only reduced council funding, but a post-election letter from Brown asking them to do what they can on TERP, within available funding. In a July letter, ATs board chairman Wayne Donnelly listed a catalogue of things which have changed since the board committed in 2022 to TERP. Inflation, local and national squeezes on transport funding and the need to do repairs following the summer weather disasters, are all cited as reasons why TERP cant be delivered imminently. The letter closed with no great promise: AT remains determined to do what we can when we can to bring into play as many of the levers identified in the pathway (TERP) as possible, that look as though they will be effective and can be resourced. There is no sign of the innovative and urgent action council officers said was needed. AT is still working out how to devise a plan, let alone implement one, and quite how or when this gap between a majority but not unanimous political enthusiasm for TERP will come face to face with ATs leadership is not clear. One approach clearly not taken, is for AT to create an urgent implementation plan, and then point out the funding gap, so that the politicians can help them address it. Brown put his signature to a document in Busan which pledged active leadership in resolving climate change issues. The mayor will need to demonstrate soon that he is serious at home, about delivering promises made abroad. Stuff sought an interview with the mayor Wayne Brown on climate change, but was denied.