How Council is Addressing Climate Change

Global efforts to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions are falling short. The impacts of a changing climate are evident in Nelson, with eroding coastlines, and more variable and extreme rainfall and temperatures.

It is crucial that we act now and do our part to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the worst effects of climate change. Tackling global greenhouse gas emissions will require coordination at an unprecedented scale – every community, city and country needs to do their part. Although Nelson’s greenhouse gas emissions are small (and Council’s even smaller) in the global context, what we do in our city matters.

As the effects of climate change are increasingly being felt in Whakatū Nelson, it is also crucial that we take action now to avoid and reduce the impacts of climate change.

Responding to climate change means rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) and adapting to the expected impacts on the Nelson region that will result from a changing climate (adaptation).

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation)

Sources of emissions – Whakatū Nelson and Council

Council's emission reduction targets

Council is committed to emissions reduction targets for its own activities in line with government targets

Council has also committed to reducing its own emissions in line with emissions reduction budgets, which are five-yearly interim targets set by central government following advice from the Climate Change Commission.

The following are the interim targets for reducing Council’s own greenhouse gas emissions, which are in line with the five-yearly emissions budgets adopted by central government:

6.1% reduction of all greenhouse gas emissions (2022-2025)
21% reduction of all greenhouse gas emissions (2026-2030)
37.8% reduction of all greenhouse gas emissions (2031-2035).

Note: The percentage reduction above was estimated based on the emission budgets published by the Ministry for the Environment and the NZ baseline year of 2019 emissions levels (77.2 Mt CO2-e). New Zealand's Greenhouse gas Inventory 1990-2020 published in 2022

All percentages are the average reduction per year across the emissions budget period. The reduction expected will be measured against the FY 2017/18 base year of Council’s operational greenhouse gas emissions.

Having already met this target and reduced emissions by 89 per cent since baseline reporting in 2027/18, Council is consulting on a new Council emissions reduction target as part of the draft Whakatū Nelson Climate Change Strategy.

Council’s carbon footprint

Council has measured its own carbon footprint since 2017/18. To measure Council’s footprint, sources of emissions are identified across Council facilities such as waste, electricity, diesel and petrol use, travel and emissions from the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Council’s carbon footprint is calculated by using the quantity of the activity (e.g. kWh used) multiplied by the emission factor. The common unit used to represent all GHG emissions in a carbon footprint is tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

This data is collected yearly and audited by an independent auditor. The results of the carbon footprint inventories are shown below.

Carbon footprint inventory FY 2017/18
Carbon footprint inventory FY 2018/19
Carbon footprint inventory FY 2019/20
Carbon footprint inventory FY 2020/21
Carbon footprint inventory FY 2021/22
Carbon footprint inventory FY 2022/23
Carbon footprint inventory FY 2023/24

Note: The graph above represents the GHG emissions estimated for each financial year since 2017/18 (base year). The baseline for 2017/18 was recalculated in accordance with ISO 14064-1 directions to account for methodology and emission factors changes. However, the 2018/19 and 2019/20 inventories were calculated using a different baseline methodology. Therefore, comparisons between the base year and 2020/21 accurately show the actual emissions reductions, but comparisons with 2018/19 and 2019/20 should be treated with caution.

Adapting to climate change impacts (adaptation)

Adaptation relates to actions Council can take to avoid or reduce the impacts of climate change on our region now and in the future.

The science is clear: our climate is changing and will continue to do so in the future. Climate change will impact every aspect of life; how we get around, where we live, the work we do, our health and what we eat.

What is Council doing?

Council is following the Ministry for the Environment’s guidance on Coastal Hazards and Climate Change Guidance for Local Government (2024), an iterative 10-step cycle for adapting to coastal hazards and climate change effects, such as sea-level rise. Engaging with the community at every step is a key part of this.

Using the 10-step adaptation cycle will allow us to make plans in conjunction with the community despite uncertainty about which scenario is more likely to happen.

The 10-step adaptation cycle grouped around 5 key questions (Source: Adapted from National Coastal Hazards and Climate Change Guidance 2024)

Since 2021, Council has conducted an assessment of coastal hazards (step 1 and 2), met with communities to determine values and objectives (step 3), is currently working with Tasman District Council on a Regional Climate Change Risk Assessment (step 4), and preparing for the development of adaptation plans (step 5).

Understanding climate change risks and vulnerabilities (step 4)

Part of Nelson City Council’s role is to understand what the changes are and may be for our region and to work with our community to understand these changes and their potential effects.

Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council are developing a climate change risk assessment to better understand climate change risks to our regions. This assessment will be published on this page, once available. In the meantime, maps showing sea-level rise and river flooding can be found here.

The risk assessment will allow Councils to consider different future scenarios. These scenarios differ depending on how fast global emissions decrease and how fast and how well the world transitions to a low-carbon economy. The faster emissions decrease and the more coordinated the transition, the less impacts we need to prepare for. Conversely, the slower the emissions decrease and the less coordinated the transition, the more and faster we need to adapt.

Adaptation options and pathways (steps 5 and 6)

Once we understand how climate change may impact our buildings, infrastructure, natural environment, people and the economy, Council and the community will work together to develop location-specific adaptation options (steps 5 and 6).

Council is initially prioritising coastal adaptation (including the lower Maitai River). Other hazards including river flooding, wildfire, drought and changes in seasons will also be considered in Council’s adaptation planning,

Central government intends to introduce legislation and guidelines to address climate change over the coming years.

For more information on climate change and what is happening along our coasts, see the Climate Adaptation page on Shape Nelson.

Items of Interest

Alert

Heavy Rain Warning - Orange

How Council is Addressing Climate Change

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