Hawke's Bay joining up on climate action

For the first time, Hawke’s Bay will have a coordinated approach for decision making in climate action with the establishment of a joint council and tangata whenua Climate Action Joint Committee. 

The aim of the committee, made up of the region’s five councils, Post Settlement Government Entities and Taiwhenua representatives is to build climate resilience in the region and cut carbon emissions in line with the regional goal to be carbon neutral by 2050. 

Committee Chair Hinewai Ormsby says with the work done to establish the first emissions profile of Hawke’s Bay last year, the committee is a great step towards a co-ordinated regional effort to achieve decarbonisation goals. 

“The committee is also a key platform for building resilience as we work through the steps of the cyclone recovery.” 

“Our communities are asking us to build back smarter. This isn’t just about where we build, it’s about what we build and how we build to ensure those buildings are energy efficient and really meet our community’s need for a long time into the future.”  

“We can’t lose sight of the goal of helping communities and industry transition equitably to a lower emissions future that takes into account changed weather patterns. This is about thinking intergenerationally and coming together to use the latest science, local and international knowledge to ensure Hawke’s Bay is a fantastic place to live and work.”  

The Climate Action Committee meets on 22 May, at 1.30pm in the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council chambers and will be livestreamed on the Regional Council Facebook page. 

NIWA’s Dr Sam Dean will present to the committee about the contribution of climate change to Cyclone Gabrielle, and Dr Tom Logan of Urban Intelligence will present online maps of our known climate change related risks. 

For information about projections of expected changes to weather patterns, sea level risk and impacts, go to hbrc.govt.nz and search #climatehub. 

19 May 2023

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