Auckland City Council
Media release
12 May 2008

State of the environment report shows key improvements

Auckland City Council has released its 2006/2007 report on the state of the environment. This annual update assesses key trends and is aimed at raising community awareness about how our actions are changing the environment.

In general, the update shows that over the past year there have been some key improvements in Auckland’s city environment:

• air quality, which is a big environmental issue in Auckland city, looks to be improving for most pollutants

• the quality of our wastewater discharged into the Manukau harbour has significantly improved over the last year

• both water consumption and waste to landfill per capita were down slightly from the previous year.

Despite this positive news, there is room for improvement in some areas. Auckland city’s energy use remains very high, increasing in line with national energy use.

Fewer people used buses during the peak morning commute despite an increase in public transport services. This meant an overall drop in the total number of people using public transport during the morning peak.

“The state of the environment reporting process will play a key role in monitoring our environmental targets. By bringing together the information we need to assess our progress on a yearly basis, the report will help us to measure how we are achieving our aim of becoming a truly sustainable city,” says City Development Committee chairperson, Councillor Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga.

This report is available from your local Auckland City Council library, at www.aucklandcity.govt.nz or by calling 09 379 2020.

ENDS

Note to editors
The next full State of the Environment report is due in 2010. This report will take a total performance approach by considering all aspects of sustainability, including economic, environmental, social and cultural. This is part of our long-term plan for a sustainable Auckland city.

© Scoop Media