Greater Wellington’s Low Carbon Acceleration (LCA) Fund, established to accelerate the action required for Greater Wellington to meet ambitious climate goals, received national recognition at the 2021 LGFA Taituarā Local Government Excellence Awards.

LGFA Taituarā Local Government Excellence Awards seek to showcase and celebrate the outstanding people and mahi that contribute to the success of the local government sector.

Greater Wellington won a Highly Commended Citation for Environmental Leadership for the LCA Fund - a pool of money set aside to boost activities or initiatives that reduce emissions faster or at a greater scale than would otherwise occur.

Greater Wellington councillor and Chair of the Climate Committee Thomas Nash, says “Greater Wellington has a laser like focus on reaching our climate positive commitment by 2035.

“Our carbon credits are a major and growing asset on our balance sheet. It makes sense for us to borrow against them to accelerate the restoration of native ecosystems that absorb and store carbon.

“We hope this award will help get the word out to other organisations that might be in a position to set up similar schemes.”

Already Greater Wellington’s Low Carbon Acceleration (LCA) Fund has allocated approximately $2.4 million to a range of projects which will occur over the next few years, including restoration of key areas within Queen Elizabeth Park and Kaitoke Regional Park.

“Our next steps are to continue to reduce emissions by phasing out grazing across our regional park network, and restoring native forests and wetlands. We are also putting money into the development of joint plans with mana whenua as a core component of these initiatives,” says Cr Nash.

The Taituarā judges called the LCA Fund an innovative, yet practical, way for councils to show leadership in climate change mitigation at limited additional cost to ratepayers.

“We commend the Council for its attention to design detail and look forward to hearing more of the Council’s progress against its targets in future years,” commented the Taituarā judges.

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