Auckland Council’s annual budget for 2022 - 2023 is out for consultation and the main focus is climate change! Please show your support by making a quick (3 minute) submission by 28 March 2022.
The council is proposing a CLIMATE ACTION PACKAGE for Auckland focused on:
- public transport
- active network
- urban ngahere (forests).
This package would be funded by a Climate Action Targeted Rate to raise $574 million from rates in Auckland over 10 years which will unlock a further $344 million from the Government. This targeted rate along with fare revenue will see over $1 billion invested in active transport, public transport and urban forest canopy in Auckland. See the Auckland Budget 2022/23.
OraTaiao supports the climate action package, including the climate action targeted rate.
Show your support - make a quick (3 minute) submission:
- Go to have your say on the Annual Budget 2022/2023
-
Check
Support for Question 1 – Climate Action Targeted Rate.
- Write a quick blurb in the “Tell Us Why” box about how better public transport, safer walking and cycling, and/or more trees will help you, your whanau, or the environment. If you want you can copy and paste some of the points we have made below. Then hit submit. 🙌
- Feel free to comment on all 6 questions (for instance in support of compost bins as part of waste services) but you don’t have to – all questions are optional.
- Make your submission by Monday 28 March 2022.
OR make a longer submission:
Longer submissions are also welcome. Note that it is important for your submission to be specific and individual to you/your organisation because if the Council receives more than one of the same submission they will treat all as a single submission. Remember, this is all about getting Councillors to vote for the climate action targeted rate, and they need to hear it is popular with Aucklanders.
Reasons to support the Climate Action Targeted Rate
- There is a dominant focus to reduce transportation emissions through public transport and supporting active transport.
- It directly targets inequities through improving services in communities currently under-served.
- The fund will be used to improve and make public transport more accessible and climate friendly through increasing services and frequency, and purchasing low-emission buses and ferries.
- People who commute by public transport have less cardiovascular disease (high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes), less diabetes, and overall lower mortality rates.
- Funding to improve access to active transportation is needed in Auckland. This climate action package will be used to improve 35km of footpaths, including lighting to make walking safer and completing cycling links across the region.
- Commuters who walk or cycle are healthier and live longer. Active transport is proven to reduce all-cause mortality and reduce morbidity from non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory diseases, diabetes, and mental health.
- Planting of urban Ngahere (forests) will improve carbon sequestration and also promote human health and wellbeing. For example, through psychological benefits, and cooling the city by providing shade and transpiring water.
- Planting will also be of cultural importance with kai gardens and rongoa (medicinal plants), further supporting food sovereignty and community autonomy.
- Trees purify the air by removing particulate matter pollution reducing the risk of asthma, heart attacks, and stroke.
If the fund goes through and is well planned and implemented it will be a turning point for Auckland to reduce its climate emissions and improve the daily lives of many by making the city’s transport more accessible, safer and healthier.
The dominant focus of the proposed Auckland Budget 2022/23 is targeting climate change through carbon-action targeted rates. These rates are expected to raise $574 million over 10 years and along with government subsidies will be spent on a climate action plan to meet Auckland Council's goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 from 2016 levels, and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Auckland is the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the country with over 1.6 million residents. Over 40 per cent of Auckland's total emissions come from transportation and these emissions have increased by 86 per cent between 1990 to 2018.
Reducing emissions will have massive co-health benefits through reducing air pollution from transport and increasing the physical activity of the community. This will see a reduction in all-cause mortality and morbidity, thus reducing the cost burden of healthcare and quality of life.
We encourage you to make a submission as an individual or on behalf of your organisation. Closing date March 28th 2022.
References
Carrus, G., Scopelliti, M., Lafortezza, R., Colangelo, G., Ferrini, F., Salbitano, F., ... & Sanesi, G. (2015). Go greener, feel better? The positive effects of biodiversity on the well-being of individuals visiting urban and peri-urban green areas. Landscape and urban planning, 134, 221-228
Celis-Morales. C. A., Lyall. D. M., & Welsh. P. (2017). Association Between Active Commuting and Incident Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and Mortality: Prospective Cohort Study. British Medical Journal, 357. https://doi-org.ezproxy.massey.ac.nz/10.1136/bmj.j1456
Hartig, T. (2004). Restorative environments. In C. Spielberger (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of applied psychology (Vol. 3) (pp. 273–278). San Diego: Elsevier/Academic Press
Huang, B., Comeau, D. J., Conklin, J. A., & O'Gorman, P. E. (2020). Assessing the Current State of Food Insecurity in New Zealand. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/iqp-all/5613
Raifman, M., Lambert K. F., Levy, J. I., & Kinney. P. L. (2021). Mortality Implications Of Increased Active Mobility for a Proposed Regional Transportation Emission Cap-and-Invest Program. Journal of Urban Health, 98(3), 315-327. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-020-00510-1
Riolo, F. (2019). The social and environmental value of public urban food forests: The case study of the Picasso Food Forest in Parma, Italy. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 45, 126225.