More than half of Hawke's Bay residents happy to pay more to tackle climate change
Most Hawkes Bay residents would be happy to pay more rates or taxes towards tackling climate change, and believed tree planting was the way to do it. These are a couple of the findings uncovered in a survey report released by Hawkes Bay Regional Council on Tuesday. The council employed SIL Research to survey residents across Hawkes Bay, including Wairoa, Napier, Hastings and Central Hawkes Bay, about their attitudes towards the environment and climate change. The survey saw 836 residents contacted in July and August. READ MORE: * Investigations into aquifer recharge for Central Hawke's Bay * Climate change resilience projects get $100 million from Government * Napier rendering plant prosecuted for odour The most-mentioned challenge was drinking water, with 37 per cent of respondents raising it. That was followed by economic struggles at 30 per cent, and then climate change at 24 per cent. Ninety per cent of respondents believed climate change was already occurring. Of those, 47 per cent believed it was due to human activities alone and 44 per cent believed it was due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. Just two per cent of residents said climate change does not exist and one per cent of those surveyed were unsure. Forty-one per cent identified the regional council as the main organisation responsible for actions to address climate change, but only a third of residents thought the council was currently doing enough. When it came to funding a way to minimise the impact of climate change, 55 per cent said they were prepared to pay more in rates, taxes or levies. Twenty-five per cent said they wouldnt pay more. The least preferred way of spending any extra money raised from residents was to protect coastal communities from sea level rise, with 42 per cent disagreeing with spending money that way. Using extra money to reduce carbon and erosion through planting trees was the most supported initiative, with 68 per cent agreeing with it. Council chief executive James Palmer said the results provided an understanding around where residents would like the council to focus its work and would be considered as part of its Long Term Plan for the next decade. Seeing that 90 per cent of Hawkes Bay locals believe climate change is already occurring, and 62 per cent are concerned about it reinforces the need for us to take action, and gives us an indication of support for the Regional Council stepping up and taking more action on climate change. Palmer noted the high level of interest in water usage and storage and pointed to a comprehensive investigation into water security that was already underway by council. As part of this, we are conducting a regional water assessment that will show us the gap between our demand for water and our ability to supply it. We will keep the community up to date with these investigations, he said. We are also looking at upscaling our tree planting programme so it was encouraging to see that of the people who were prepared to pay more rates to mitigate climate change, that 69 per cent supported the reduction of carbon and erosion through tree planting, Palmer said. The council was launching a climate crisis campaign this week in a bid to show residents what the councils doing about climate change. It was important for us to understand the challenges for people to engage in environment-related activities, in particular wed like to show people how they can take action without being limited by a lack of resources and cost. A focus of our campaign is to show people how they can make a difference, whatever their background or situation, Palmer said. * To find out more about the Hawkes Bay Regional Council climate action campaign, how you can be involved and to have your say, go to www.hbrc.govt.nz and search #climateactionhb.