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Auckland, August 23, 2022
Auckland Mayoral candidate Efeso Collins has announced a comprehensive plan to tackle climate change, ensuring the environmental beauty of the city.
During a visit to ‘Critical,’ a clean technology business that showcases the type of innovative approach he intends to support as Mayor, he said that climate change and environmental neglect are among the most pressing challenges for current and future Aucklanders.
“We need significant action to reduce emissions and mitigate and adapt to climate change. I know that a majority of Aucklanders expect the Auckland Council to play a significant role in addressing these challenges,” he said.
Mr Collins said that he plans to partner with the community and the business sectors.
“It is clean technology businesses like Critical, a company that is innovating with soft plastic recycling to create green construction materials, that we must be engaging with to grapple with the complex challenges we face,” he said.
Mr Collins had earlier announced his plans to introduce fares-free public transport which will enable the Auckland Council to take a major leap towards meeting its Climate Plan goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2030.
National Coalition of Mayors
He will begin work on convening a national Coalition of Mayors to coordinate climate action across New Zealand and to lobby the central government for further investment to meet our emission reduction goals.
“I intend to form a strong united voice amongst mayors across New Zealand to ensure central government returns the GST we pay on rates. This action alone could ensure Auckland had a further $300 million a year to tackle this most pressing of challenges,” Mr Collins said.
Along with his earlier announcements, Mr Collins will focus on preserving our precious natural environment and improving our waste management systems.
“Cleaning up our beaches, streams, and coastlines will be a key priority of the council I lead,” Collins. And critical to preserving our natural environment is ensuring iwi, local communities and ecological volunteer groups are given the support they need to improve the quality of our inland and coastal environments,” he said.
The Auckland Council only manages only 20% of the city’s waste through kerbside collections and the Waitakere Transfer Station.
Partnership with businesses
“Therefore, the partnership with businesses and the industry to reduce privately managed waste that accounts for the other 80% is crucial We send more than 1.6 million tonnes of waste to landfill each year and significant action is needed to be zero waste by 2040,” he said.
Mr Collins said that he will support the expansion of food scrap collection across Auckland so that landfill waste can be significantly reduced.
“I will also focus on the Council’s own waste produced as part of its operations and implement action to significantly reduce this. I will advocate for the Council to investigate ways to use eco-friendly building materials in council facilities, as well as find ways to support innovative businesses that support the recycling and reusing of construction materials. I will direct the Council to investigate the reintroduction of an environmentally friendly inorganic collection that is easier for residents and enables resource recovery,” he said.
Mr Collins said that if we neglect our responsibility to preserve and protect our unique environment, we will do a significant disserve to the ensuing generations.
”Our temperate climate and beautiful environment is a taonga inherited from previous generations that we hold in trust for future generations. But our environment is under stress from crumbling infrastructure, climate change, pests, and invasive diseases. Therefore, we cannot slow down in our efforts, not only for our continued enjoyment of the environment but so also we pass on a city that our children and their children will continue to cherish,” Mr Collins said.
