Christchurch council's climate change plans 'poorly articulated' and lacking detail, leading academic says
A leading academic has described Christchurch City Councils plans for addressing climate change as a quick throw-together of bullet points. Professor Bronwyn Hayward , a Canterbury University political scientist and climate change researcher, described climate action within the 10-year budget as poorly articulated and lacking objectives, data and allocated resources. She made the comments while presenting to councillors on Tuesday as part of ongoing public hearings on the councils 10-year budget and climate change strategy. Hayward holds a key role on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body for climate science. READ MORE: * Climate Change Commission's 'lack of ambition' challenged * Cantabrians can now tell the city council how they want their money spent * Christchurch council seeks clarity on cost of multimillion-dollar climate change strategy * Climate change plan aims to make Christchurch carbon neutral ahead of 2050 target In 2018, she was the only New Zealand author on a key report that outlined the importance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Hayward urged the council to identify its biggest climate change vulnerabilities and then measure how it was addressing them across time. We can do a lot better than this, it's just a quick throw-together of bullet points to be honest, she said. She was also critical of the proposed Tarras airport , being pushed by Christchurch Airport, which is 75 per cent owned by the city council. Councillors will vote on whether to officially raise concerns about the proposal later this week. Hayward also offered to provide a panel of staff from Canterbury and Lincoln universities to offer the council expert advice. Other submitters on Tuesday asked the council for a stronger response to climate change. Christchurch Youth Council executive member Bryant McIntyre told councillors the word youth was mentioned twice in the climate change strategy . He wanted young people to be involved in policy and helping in the community. When we work together, we fight stronger, he said. A spokesman for cycling advocacy group Spokes NZ, Don Babe, said early steps could have a profound impact on the trajectory of emissions. He thought waiting longer for action would lead to future draconian measures. Cr Sara Templeton, who oversees the council committee responsible for climate change, said submissions had shown residents wanted more climate action. Our climate change strategy needs to reflect this in an implementation plan with clear, evidence-based actions and [an] ambitious timeframe, she said. The councils proposed climate change strategy mostly includes information on what the council hopes to achieve long-term, instead of distinct actions with exact budgets and deliverable time frames. Some experts have previously questioned the lack of costs included in the strategy. The councils proposed 10-year budget does detail some spending proposals for climate-related projects, such as $235.8 million for cycling projects , $90.7m for public transport , and $13.1m on tree planting. On Tuesday, councillors also heard from the Arts Centre, for which the council has proposed a $5.5m grant in this budget. Arts Centre Trust board chairwoman Felicity Price told councillors the money would be most welcome funding, and would be used to get two buildings in the heritage complex open. She said there were already interested businesses who wanted to relocate to the centre. Orana Park Trust chief executive Lynn Anderson also asked the council for $750,000 annually to go towards the zoos operating costs. Orana Park lost money in the 2018/19 financial year and broke even in 2019/20 and 2020/21, she said. We have an amazing community asset in the park and it significantly contributes to economic development and recovery, Anderson said. The council has nearly completed a week of hearings for the 10-year budget and climate change strategy. Hearings are scheduled to continue for another week, by which time councillors are likely to have heard from 320 residents and organisations. About 2300 people and organisations had their say on the 10-year budget through written submissions.