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Thames Coromandel District Council has agreed to keep taking action in response to climate change.
During a recently held meeting, councillors voted against a resolution to sign the Local Government Leaders’ Climate Change Declaration – a document drafted by Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) that commits councils to plans to reduce greenhouse gases, increase resource efficiency, promote public and low-carbon transport and support the use of renewable energy.
While it did not sign the declaration, the council noted it is already committed to working on many of the initiatives within the declaration itself. The initiatives described in the declaration have not yet been canvassed across the district and have unknown financial and legal consequences, Mayor Sandra Goudie said.
“This declaration doesn’t indemnify us from action or inaction,” Goudie said. “The only way we can be protected is if government indemnifies us, so we are vulnerable either way.
“Both LGNZ and the council will continue to look at the Government to lead the way forward,” she noted.
The council added it had passed a resolution asking staff to take a broad view of the actions undertaken to mitigate the drivers of climate change and to scan how other councils are responding to carbon management and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
