Towards zero carbon? Constrained policy action in two New Zealand cities

ABSTRACT

Transportation was Aotearoa/New Zealand’s fastest-growing sector in terms of carbon emissions over the last two decades. This article investigates mitigation policies for transportation emissions in the two most prosperous cities, Wellington and Auckland. Analysing local government policy documents, we dissect commitments and examine the gap between aspirations and outcomes. Neither city’s emissions are falling significantly despite trends towards housing intensification, which can cut emissions via shorter journeys. The mode share of motor vehicles in total commuting trips is only gradually diminishing, while the share of walking and cycling is only marginally increasing. We explore possible explanations for the slow progress in achieving aspirations. Our main findings are: first, there is a significant ambition gap between councils’ stated goals, on the one hand, and measures adopted by councils, on the other; and second, ‘business as usual’ policies of central government are dampening these cities’ will and ability to adopt more sustainable policies. We conclude that city mitigation performance will likely be modest until the central government’s stance changes, but there is nevertheless a strong case, and clear opportunities, for Auckland and Wellington to strengthen their emission reductions.

KEYWORDS:

• Climate policy
• mitigation
• multi-level governance
• transport
• land use
• emissions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Targets expressed vis-à-vis 1990 (Groser 2013).

2 This analysis excludes agricultural emissions. Including them would misleadingly portray Wellington's emissions as much higher than Auckland's, simply because Wellington has a larger region.

3 This category includes motorcyclists, which are also included in Table 1 figures.

4 GWRC's reduction rate (2013–2025) is 0.9 per cent/year; central government's target implies a gross reduction rate of 0.3 per cent/year (1990–2030), but the net reduction rate is unclear as land use change and forestry data are not publicly available. Starting points and responsibilities are, of course, contested.

5 See, for example, the Active a2b programme.

6 GWRC does have an internal emissions mitigation plan (‘Climate Change Mitigation Corporate Action Plan’).

7 Public transport network expenditure is primarily the responsibility of the Regional Council.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was prepared as part of the ‘Resilient Urban Futures’ research program of the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities, funded by the New Zealand Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment.