Climate change:
As part of the Governance and Planning paper taken in the third year of the Planning degree, the issue of climate change is addressed. This is undeniably a key issue that will undoubtedly become more important from now and into the future. Therefore, as part of this paper, it is key to understand the issues involved with climate change and how so that in the future we can recognise how to incorporate strategies to address this issue in our policy-making. The project for the paper involved a presentation that addresses whether climate change is a serious challenge or emergency and also what priorities should be given to the strategy to address climate change.
The presentation is outlined below:
a) Whether climate change is a serious challenge or and emergency.
According to the Stern Review from 2006, “The scientific evidence is now overwhelming: climate change is a serious global threat, and it demands an urgent global response.”

The science indicates that anthropogenic warming could lead to some impacts that are abrupt or irreversible. For example In 2002, the Greenland Glacier started to slip from the surface this is deeply concerning because it shows the vulnerability of the Greenland Glacier and if it were to melt more quickly over the next century the sea level could rise by several meters causing “grave danger to our civilization”. If this is to occur in Greenland, then it is more than likely to occur in the Antarctic which if it melts is predicted to raise sea levels by 5 meters.
To put this into context as to how serious this issue is, sea level rises of half a meter will drown Bangladesh. Ban Ki Moon –sectary general of the U.N (2007) suggests that climate change is “an emergency situation that needs emergency action”.
By 2035 a global average temperature rise of over 2°C is expected and the point of no return is approaching. Many scientists believe the IPCC reports are very conservative; even so a temperature increase of 2 degrees will take us into a temperature range beyond what has been experienced in the last million years.
Human activities that produce CO2 include burning oil, coal, gas, clearing forests. Methane is released from farming, coal mines, and landfill sites.
Some serious consequences of higher temperatures include:
· Increased spread of infectious diseases
· Water shortages
· Increased droughts
· Forced famine
· Wet winters
· Extreme weather events
· Over 25% loss of biodiversity
· and many species that are faced with extinction
· risk of hunger/malnutrition
· crop failures
· loss of forest and fires
Serious impacts as a result of climate change are already being experienced- James Hansen, the USA’s most eminent climate scientist, has said that major ‘climate tipping’ points have already been passed the most significant being ice sheet disintegration, significant sea-level rises this century and species loss. These tipping points were crossed when we reached 300-350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere decades ago.
After 2050 the effects of climate change will hit the planet more dramatically-this involves depleting ecosystems, forests, rivers, plant and animal species whose well being all depends on the climate system. Furthermore, evidence proves that human activities are accelerating climate change effects in particularly high levels of concentrations of Green House Gasses in the atmosphere as a result of the dependence on car usage, unsustainable land-use practices and increasing levels of consumption to name a few.
Lacking the collective will to act in a sustainable manner is no excuse to compromise; humans have created the global warming phenomenon and have the capacity to reverse the damage and take a more sustainable approach to prevent a climate catastrophe. If we don’t act now and continue to adopt a ‘business as usual’ approach then it is likely to place excessive environmental, social, political and economic costs now and in particularly into the future.

b) What priority should be given to the strategy?
It is no longer possible to prevent the climate change impacts that will occur over the next two to three decades, but it is still possible to protect our societies and economies from its impacts.

The obstacles to implementing climate change strategies are not scientific or economic but are political and social. Instead of resisting a “business as usual” approach we need to prevent a “politics as usual” approach to climate change. Our conventional mode of politics is short term, incremental and unable to bring about quick deep change. Addressing climate change requires substantial economic, social and political reform.
We need to re-conceive the issue as being one of a ‘sustainability emergency’ not as simply a climate change emergency- by re-conceiving the issues they become high priority for local governments in order for them to achieve their purpose under the LGA as promoting sustainable development and in regard to resource management under the RMA as sustainable management.
Although NZ is only accountable for a small proportion of the worlds global emissions we have a higher than average per capita emissions than other parts of the world and are in a unique position as one of the only nations whose majority of emissions comes from agriculture. Innovation in this area could make NZ world leaders in agricultural development and sustainable farming.
Local government is the key partner to central government in actually delivering mitigation and adaptation strategies. Of all the challenges climate change brings the hardest to overcome is getting political consensus and developing a collective will to recognise the reality and scale of the problem. Within NZ some local councils are being proactive about defining what local responses are needed while others still see climate change as a debateable theoretical risk- the new Auckland Supercity council needs to be a leader within NZ and guide other councils towards recognising the urgency of the situation as part of their obligations for sustainable development.
If sustainable development and climate change policy are to become integral to politics and the economy, support is required not just from governments and markets, but from civil society reaching down to cities, districts, local communities, families and individuals.
The evidence available leads to a simple conclusion: the benefits of strong and early action far outweigh the costs of not acting to address the major global crisis that is imminent if we do not tackle climate change. Local government integration of climate change strategies into future plans, document and policies makes them a key player in engendering support from the wider community.