Nelson’s Plan To Slash Emissions

Sunday, 9 March 2025, 10:02 pm
Article: Max Frethey - Local Democracy Reporter

Nelsonians are being urged to do their bit to help the city slash its emissions.

A new strategy approved by Nelson City Council on Thursday will go out for community consultation next week and seeks feedback on two ambitious climate change targets.

The first option put forward was reducing all community greenhouse gas emissions, excluding biogenic methane, by 6.83% every year for the next decade – a target aligned with the Government’s 2050 net zero plans.

The second option was a greater yearly reduction of 8.3% which aligned with the targets determined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

The council’s climate change manager, Rachel Pemberton, acknowledged that Nelson was only a sliver of the globe’s total emissions, but said the strategy was about the city doing its bit.

“We’ve tried to focus on what we can influence. We can't change global geopolitics, but we can change what we do here.”’

While the success of meeting the targets would hinge on community action, the council and its strategy were unable to mandate residents or businesses.

The council, accounting for only about 2% of the city’s total emissions, is also proposing new targets for itself.

Improvements to landfill gas capture have driven drastic reductions in council emissions by 89% from 2017/18 levels.

Now, it’s proposed the council cut its gross energy and transport emissions by 43% by 2030.

Joanna Santa-Barbara, co-chair of the Nelson Tasman Climate Forum, hailed the draft strategy as “momentous”.

“It's the document we've been hoping for,” she said.

“It sees the big picture, that climate disruption is one symptom of the very big problem of human activity transgressing nature’s limits.”

On Thursday afternoon, Nelson’s elected members eagerly approved the draft strategy to be consulted on, keen to try and limit the impacts of climate change.

Deputy mayor Rohan O’Neill-Stevens passionately spoke to their “deep fear” of what the world could look like in 50 years if action wasn’t taken.

“What’s worse for the world? Our concerted efforts now [and] the cost of that, or the immense ecological, environmental and social devastation that we will hand on to everyone that comes after us?”

They acknowledged that transition and mitigation measures would be “incredibly hard” but added that it would be cheaper and less disruptive to act now, than in the future.

Councillor Aaron Stallard, chair of the council’s climate change taskforce, shared that view and warned that rapid environmental change could bring about disastrous effects on the planet.

“We must embrace change. That's the reality of our situation.”

Mayor Nick Smith said the strategy would generate informed discussion in the community but expressed concerns about its practicality and cost for the community.

“We’ve got a role here, but we do need to keep in perspective the size of that role,” he said.

Smith compared the $8.1 million cost of the eBus service and its subsequent yearly reduction in annual emissions of 933 tonnes to the more ambitious draft target, which would see total reductions of about 150,000 tonnes over the next decade.

Subsequently, he claimed that the community would have to spend “billions and billions” of dollars to meet those targets.

He tried to pass an amendment that the council commission an economic analysis of the proposed targets so the council could be “up front” to the community about what the cost.

However, his councillor colleagues voted down the proposal, concerned that the suggestion was too vague and would consume council funds that were otherwise allocated for identifying further emission reduction projects.

Pemberton said that Smith’s figures presumed costs would be borne by the council in the form of infrastructure projects when there were other avenues for residents to reduce emissions, like choosing to bike to work, or buying second-hand.

“Cumulatively, if people make those changes, it's going to make a big impact.”

She added that taking climate action was also financially prudent.

“For every $1 that you invest now, you'll save $2-10 in the long term.”

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