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Strategic Climate Action Plan
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ORC has a vision for a low-emissions Otago with resilient ecosystems, communities and businesses. Is this your vision too?
Join the discussion! Is a changing climate of concern to you and have greenhouse gas emissions and changing climate influenced your choices when it comes to things like travel, transport, your purchases, business decisions and where you want to live?
The survey below seeks feedback on Council’s draft mitigation and adaptation goals and whether we could be doing more. The results will help shape a plan aimed at enhancing the social, economic, environmental, and cultural wellbeing of Otago’s communities. It’ll help us stay proactive and closely aligned with the communities we serve, as we build resilience and navigate a changing environment and climate together.
The survey closed 6 October 2024.
The plan sets a long-term vision, with some 10-year goals and provides a plan of action for Otago Regional Council. We will be collaborating with other organisations, businesses and communities from across Otago to best achieve these goals.
We want to hear from you about your climate action priorities and what you think about the draft plan. You can do this by reading the draft plan, then completing the questionnaire below.
- ORC provides reliable and relevant information to the region’s leaders, Mana Whenua, communities, and businesses to support them to make well-informed decisions to mitigate emissions.
- ORC operates low-emissions, efficient, and affordable public transport services that are widely used by the Otago community and visitors.
- ORC works in partnership with Mana Whenua and coordinates and collaborates with other agencies and communities to deliver cohesive climate mitigation action.
- ORC has delivered on the community’s expectations to be a low-emissions organisation.
- ORC enables Mana Whenua to exercise Rakatirataka and increase their climate resilience through supporting the identification of risks to the values of Mana Whenua, and collaborating on Māori-led adaptation planning.
- ORC works in partnership with Mana Whenua and coordinates and collaborates with other agencies and communities to deliver cohesive climate adaptation action.
- ORC effectively supports communities to reduce the impact of, be ready for, respond to, and recover from climate-related events.
- ORC provides reliable and relevant information to the region’s leaders, Mana Whenua, communities, and businesses to support them to make well-informed decisions to increase their climate-resilience.
- ORC supports the resilience of indigenous biodiversity.
- ORC effectively manages climate-related biosecurity threats.
- ORC has delivered on the community’s expectations to be climate-resilient in its operations and infrastructure.
This is the first version of the action plan, which shows what we are doing, and plan to do, to deliver our goals. We already do a lot of work on climate change, as this plan demonstrates.
| New | Undertake a gaps analysis of goals and work programmes to understand where changes are needed. Develop clearer pathways towards achieving each goal. |
| New | Develop and implement ORC procurement policies that prefer low-emissions sources. |
| New | Develop and implement an organisational emissions reduction plan for ORC. |
| New | Conduct an organisational climate change risk assessment (following the agreed regional framework) to scope the risk levels to various ORC assets, infrastructure and operations. |
| New | Reflecting on the organisational climate change risk assessment, implement an adaptation action plan to improve resilience. |
| Underway or planned | Develop an organisational emissions inventory. |
| Underway or planned | Ensure ORC’s budgeting process builds in climate assumptions, including emergency funds for repairing/replacing infrastructure and reviewing adaptation needs for ORC infrastructure. |
| Underway or planned | Provide information about regional greenhouse emissions. |
| New | Ensure that common tools and methodologies are used across ORC and Otago’s city and district councils to model emissions reduction scenarios, projections and inventories for Otago. |
| Underway or planned | Support and collaborate with the Zero Carbon Alliance and Otago Climate Officers Group to understand shared emissions reduction priorities and ensure we’re coordinating on common emissions reduction pathways. |
| Underway or planned | Support mana whenua in undertaking climate change risk assessments and managing the exposure and vulnerability of taonga by providing technical information and guidance as needed. |
| Underway or planned | Collaborate with Otago’s city and district councils to build on the Otago Climate Change Risk Assessment to provide valuable adaptation information for the region. |
| New | Ensure the ORC Natural Hazards Portal includes information on climate-related hazards to provide the community with a single location for information. |
| Underway or planned | Ensure that ORC’s messaging around climate adaptation and ORC’s adaptation workstreams is communicated in a way that is understood by a wide audience. |
| Underway or planned | Collaborate with Otago’s city and district councils to co-design community education messaging on adaptation needs for the region. |
| Underway or planned | Provide education and advice through catchment advisor programmes to increase knowledge and interest in environmental issues and build community resilience to the impacts of climate change. |
| Underway or planned | Attend Otago Extension Network meetings hosted by the Ministry for Primary Industries to understand initiatives underway to support farmers to deliver environmental outcomes and ensure ORC is operating effectively in this space. |
| New | Consolidate research on agriculture and local food resilience in the Otago region considering climate impacts, including climate forecasting, soil moisture and growing season estimates. |
| Underway or planned | Participate in the Enviroschools programme to promote environmentally friendly behaviour change in Otago communities. |
| New | Expand Enviroschools to include a specific focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation behaviour change needs for future climate-resilient communities. |
| Underway or planned | Ensure adapting to our changing climate and mitigating emissions is a regular feature in Te Mātāpuna newsletter as it relates to ORC work programmes. |
| Underway or planned | Maintain ORC website climate change pages with relevant and up-to-date information, options for council and private mitigation and council’s responses. |
| Underway or planned | Collaborate with Otago’s city and district councils to fund the Regional Waste Officer role (employed by DCC) to pursue opportunities for regional-level approaches to waste management including resource recovery, waste reduction at source and sludge management. |
| New | Advocate to government for government work to identify the impacts of climate change on regional economies. |
| New | Collaborate with Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora, National Public Health Service and the region’s city and district councils to explore and better understand the impacts of climate change on human health, and explore how to incorporate these considerations into decision making. |
| Underway or planned | Undertake a review of the environmental monitoring network to ensure it is fit for purpose and includes additional climate monitoring parameters. |
| Underway or planned | Review the rainfall monitoring network to determine whether it can be used for purposes other than flood warning e.g. drought predictions, management of water allocation etc. |
| Underway or planned | Undertake operational monitoring of coastal mouths and respond to channel flow and flood risks. |
| Underway or planned | Collect data to inform assessments of climate-related impacts in Otago, including coastal, river cross-sections and morphology, landslide and sea-level rise. |
| Underway or planned | Maintain a register of contaminated sites in Otago and advocate for risk assessments and remediation of contaminated sites vulnerable to the effects of climate change. |
| Underway or planned | Provide adaptation planning support to mana whenua at a rūnaka level. |
| Underway or planned | Undertake an Otago Natural Hazards Risk Assessment. |
| Underway or planned | Based on the Otago Natural Hazard Risk Assessment, develop a prioritisation framework to assess natural hazard exposure. |
| Underway or planned | Develop an Otago Natural Hazards Adaptation Plan. |
| New | Collaborate with Otago’s city and district councils to assess how our collective actions address the Otago Climate Change Risk Assessment and the Natural Hazards Risk Assessment, and how we can improve. |
| Underway or planned | Collaborate with Otago’s city and district councils to develop shared adaptation priorities based on a consistent risk assessment framework. |
| Underway or planned | Collaborate with Otago’s city and district councils to agree on consistent use of dynamic adaptive pathways planning. |
| Underway or planned | Collaborate with Queenstown Lakes District Council on adaptation needs, including regarding wildfire risk on Mount Iron, Ben Lomond and other red zone locations and Gorge Road alluvial fan risk. |
| Underway or planned | Collaborate with Queenstown Lakes District Council on the Head of Lake Whakatipu Natural Hazard Adaptation Strategy to inform adaptation in Glenorchy and Kinloch, considering climate and other natural hazard risks. |
| Underway or planned | Collaborate with Clutha District Council on a multi-hazard adaptation strategy, including reviewing the Lower Clutha Flood Protection scheme regarding engineering solutions compared to retreat; and considering adaptation risks relating to the wider Clutha Delta, including monitoring sea and groundwater levels and shoreline change. |
| Underway or planned | Collaborate with Dunedin City Council on the South Dunedin Futures work programme by providing risk assessments, natural hazard investigations, environmental monitoring of groundwater, sea level and rainfall and supporting the identification and execution of adaptation options. |
| Underway or planned | Develop the Lower Taieri Plains Adaptation Strategy which reviews the flood protection schemes and the impacts of increased climate impacts and natural hazard risks on existing infrastructure, including flood banks, drainage systems and pump station adequacy. |
| Underway or planned | Investigate adaptation needs as part of the Leith to Harbour Amenity Project. |
| Underway or planned | Collaborate with Waitaki District Council on adaptation projects and initiatives for Waitaki coastal risk assessment and management. |
| Underway or planned | Ensure that Catchment Action Plans for different freshwater management units include identification of climate adaptation needs. |
| New | Explore opportunities to support Otago’s rural economies through water storage related projects. |
| Underway or planned | Engage with landowners in Otago to understand existing knowledge about nature-based solutions for water quality and flood hazard mitigation outcomes, with a view to exploring barriers and benefits for adoption at an individual-property-level. |
| Underway or planned | Develop drainage models for assessing scheme capacity against the impacts of climate change (East Taieri, West Taieri, Lower Clutha and Tokomairiro). |
| Underway or planned | Advocate to central government for legislation to support local government with managed retreat and other adaptation actions. |
| Underway or planned | Advocate to central government for investment in adaptation initiatives through applications for funding through the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, Rivers Special Interest Group and other funding opportunities. |
| Underway or planned | Partner with iwi and collaborate with communities and landowners to develop and implement projects which enhance water quality and indigenous biodiversity in selected water bodies. |
| Underway or planned | Revise ORCs Biodiversity Strategy and ensure it is aligned to this plan and factors in increased climate impacts and natural hazard risks and sets out actions ORC will deliver to enhance Otago's biodiversity. |
| Underway or planned | Implement an indigenous biodiversity monitoring programme in Otago which provides accurate, relevant and timely information to decision-makers and the Otago public. |
| Underway or planned | Administer the Eco Fund to deliver projects to improve the resilience of local ecosystems and indigenous biodiversity. |
| Underway or planned | Expand ORC’s Biosecurity Programme to better manage the impact of exotic pest species on indigenous biodiversity and improve the resilience and adaptive capacity of desirable ecosystems. |
| Underway or planned | Deliver on the Regional Pest Management Plan. |
| New | Advocate to government for greater investment in strengthening biosecurity. |
| Underway or planned | Work through Emergency Management Otago to support mana whenua-led approaches to emergency readiness and response by co-funding a two-year emergency management mana whenua facilitator. |
| Underway or planned | Collaborate with Otago’s city and district councils to ensure civil defence and emergency management is informed by specific risks across the region. |
| Underway or planned | Act as a conduit between Fire and Emergency NZ and research institutes to understand how we can best use regulatory settings and regional relationships to manage increased wildfire risk for the region. |
| Underway or planned | Work through Emergency Management Otago to raise community awareness of climate hazards and how to prepare, including through the community response network which provides training and resources to support communities' capabilities and capacity to manage emergency events. |
| Underway or planned | Implement the National Disaster Resilience Strategy. |
| Underway or planned | Operate a network of near real-time rainfall and water level stations across the region to support flood forecasting and emergency response with a 24/7 duty roster to support forecasting duties and any necessary response. |
| Underway or planned | Support the Otago Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group in improving the resilience of Otago. |
| Underway or planned | Review the Otago Lifelines Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessment to inform ongoing emergency management work. |
| Underway or planned | Provide efficient, reliable and accessible public transport services to meet community needs. |
| Underway or planned | Decarbonise the public transport fleet. |
| Underway or planned | Explore opportunities to support decarbonisation through the Total Mobility Scheme. |
| Underway or planned | Collaborate with Otago’s city and district councils to reduce car use and encourage public transport uptake through traffic demand management initiatives such as parking plans, active transport, micro-mobility and car-pooling. |
| Underway or planned | Coordinate public transport services with school travel plans. |
| Underway or planned | Submit on consent applications at the district level to maximise potential integration with the public transport network. |
| Underway or planned | Undertake total mobility survey, bus user survey and annual survey to understand current modes of transport and community views on reliability, equitability, sustainability and safety. |
| Underway or planned | Develop and implement a public and active transport connectivity strategy to encourage active modes of travel and reduce vehicle emissions. |
| Underway or planned | Develop a Workplace Travel Plan for ORC to encourage a shift to less emissions-intensive modes of employee transport that are better for human health. |
| New | Explore feasibility of interregional public transport options and funding with Environment Southland and Environment Canterbury. |
| Underway or planned | Ensure that climate-related impacts are understood when revising the Regional Plan: Air and Air Quality Strategy, including addressing barriers to greater uptake of low-emissions domestic heating options. |
| Underway or planned | Ensure that climate-related impacts are understood when developing the proposed Land and Water Regional Plan. |
| Underway or planned | Ensure that climate-related impacts are understood when revising the Regional Plan: Coast. |
| Underway or planned | Ensure that climate mitigation and adaptation policies are embedded in the Regional Policy Statement and Future Development Strategies, and these reflect the natural hazard and climate impacts and risks for the region. |
| Underway or planned | Collaborate with the region’s city and district councils to ensure common mitigation and adaptation priorities are reflected in long-term plans. |
| New | Assess the efficacy of the provisions in the Regional Policy Statement and regional plans to give effect to the goals of this Strategic Climate Action Plan and ORC’s organisational strategic goals. |
| New | Provide professional development and training to support the resource consent team to develop capacity to assess new consent requirements regarding greenhouse emissions in the Resource Management Act from 2022. May include improving technical literacy for consent considerations such as process heat standards and processes, alternative low-carbon heat methods and greenhouse gas emissions reduction plans etc. |
| New | Ensure that submissions made on behalf of ORC advocate for options that are less emissions intensive and/or enable emissions reduction. |
Once the survey has closed at the end of 6 October, we will collate and analyse the feedback received and make appropriate revisions to the Strategic Climate Action Plan. The final version of the Strategic Climate Action Plan will go to Council for adoption before Christmas, accompanied by a report summarising the feedback we received, and changes made accordingly.
If you would like to keep in touch with the Strategic Climate Action Plan development process, you can email the team at: strategy@orc.govt.nz.
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Page last updated 10 October 2024
Page last updated 10 October 2024
