Venu Menon
Wellington, December 19,2023
Wellington aims to become a net zero carbon capital by 2050.
Net zero carbon means reducing emissions to as close to zero as possible, and then using the green cover of the areas under forest, also known as ‘carbon sinks,’ to offset the balance emissions.
That would take Wellington’s emissions to ‘net zero’ and it would stop contributing to global warming.
Climate action targets
Wellington has set a target of achieving a 57% reduction of its 2020 emissions by 2030.
In order to reach the net zero climate action target, emissions across the city have to be measured regularly and accurately.
Wellington’s gross emissions reduced by 10% between 2019 – 2020 and 2022 – 2023.
In the 20 years before that, gross emissions reduced by 8%, even while the population grew 24%.
Wellington has to continue to reduce its carbon at a similar or faster rate to reach the target of 57% reduction by 2030, and being net carbon zero by 2050. But to do this, the city needs to achieve its biggest reductions over the next seven years.
Emissions sources
Emissions from two key sources must be significantly reduced over the next seven years if the city is to achieve its 2030 target.
Transportation is the biggest source of emissions accounting for 56.2% of total gross emissions.
This is followed by electricity and natural gas connections in buildings, which accounts for 28.3% of total gross emissions.
Other sources of emissions in Wellington city include waste (7.3%), industry (6.6%) and agriculture (1.6%).
Measuring emissions
The Wellington city greenhouse gas emissions inventory report accounts for the greenhouse gas emissions of various sectors within the city limits.
These include emissions from petrol and diesel vehicles, rail, air, bus electricity, LPG, port activities, as well as solid waste and wastewater.
Emissions are measured also from refrigeration, air-conditioning, fire extinguishers, aerosols, electrical equipment production, and agriculture.
The net emissions is calculated by offsetting the gross total against emissions ‘sequestered’ through the green cover or forested areas.
Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by planting trees and from existing forests.
Non-measurable emissions
The inventory report does not include emissions from products or installations falling outside Wellington city limits. For instance, the production of concrete, which is an activity high in emissions, is not included because it is made outside Wellington before being trucked to the city.
Similarly, consumer goods are not included in the inventory because they are not produced within Wellington. However, this may change in the future.
“Emissions reduced significantly during Covid-19, and even with travel and economic activity bouncing back, we have still managed to reduce our emissions by an additional 1% in the past year. While there is much more to do, every bit of progress counts,” says Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau.
Climate change impacts
Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon says the Wellington City Council is working “to better understand local climate change impacts” in order to make “well-informed decisions on how best to adapt.”
To this end, the Climate Adaptation Community Engagement Roadmap, the council’s strategy to address climate change impacts, aims at evolving solutions “in collaboration with the capital’s most at-risk communities in the coming years.”
Climate emergency
The Wellington City Council has declared a climate emergency, meaning it is calling for swift action to help Wellington become a net zero carbon capital by 2050.
The Council says switching to electric vehicles and getting more people to use public transport will play a big role in achieving this target. Cycling, push scooters and small e-scooters “can make a significant contribution to a shift in how we get around.”
Paneke Poneke sets out the council’s approach to “creating a safe, connected and high-quality network of routes for biking and scooting.”
The phrase denotes onward movement, and conjures the image of Wellingtonians “hauling a canoe in unison” towards a safe, healthy, net zero carbon city of the future.
Venu Menon is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Wellington
