Climate Change Commission's 'lack of ambition' challenged
More ambitious targets and a bolder direction for New Zealand's climate change response. This is what the Christchurch City Council believes the Climate Change Commission is missing in its draft recommendations to the Government. The commission, an independent group of seven experts appointed by the government, is set to deliver final advice to the Government later this year on how it can reach the New Zealands target of net-zero emissions by 2050 . In late January, the commission released a report stating the need for transformational and lasting change across society and the economy to address climate change. READ MORE: * Experts and councillors question lack of costs in major climate change strategy * Concern over 'climate change sceptic' addressing Wellington City Council * Canterbury council calls for public transport funding to meet climate goals * Christchurch council seeks clarity on cost of multimillion-dollar climate change strategy The council, which represents about 370,000 residents in a city with multiple coastal suburbs, believes the commission has underplayed the need for widespread behaviour change to achieve the target. Writing in a draft submission , the council says New Zealand, being a relatively wealthy country that values the natural environment, should show more leadership in global efforts to reduce emissions. We need to make deeper and earlier emission reductions than other less developed nations to do our fair share, it says. The commission's emissions-based budgets leave too much work to be done in later years and do not match the sense of urgency signalled in the Government's climate emergency declaration last year, the submission says. "When considering how affordable it is to achieve the budgets, the costs of inaction should also be considered." City councillor Sara Templeton, who oversees the council committee dealing with climate change, said it was crucial to provide feedback to the commission. Not only is climate change going to impact our city, but many of the mitigation measures are ones that councils have influence over such as urban planning and transport," she said. Dr Rod Carr, the chair of the Climate Change Commission, said it was important people were able to contribute to the commission's work. The team would work hard to incorporate public feedback before submitting advice to the Government, he said. Christchurch's City councillors will meet Wednesday to discuss and sign off their submission. The council has indicated its belief in a strong stance on responding to climate change. It was the third council in New Zealand to declare a climate emergency while its net-zero emissions target is 2045 five years before the target set by the Government as well as councils in Auckland and Wellington. The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research projects by 2040, Christchurch will have more than 10 additional days over 25 degrees Celsius each year, and by 2050 there will be a 30-centimetre rise in sea level. Tofrida Wainwright, a spokesperson for climate activist group Extinction Rebellion, said the group believed the commission needed to go harder and faster". Professor Bronwyn Hayward, a political scientist at Canterbury University with a research focus on climate change, said the council's demands of the commission were "helpful, but also ironic. The irony, she said, was because the council had released its own climate change strategy and 10-year budget for public consultation, and neither, she said, provided concrete steps for Christchurch becoming low carbon. I hope the council backs up its strong words to the climate commission with strong action itself," she said. Other experts who helped developed the council's climate change strategy have said it l acks detail on costs and could have gone further . The council has defended the "framework strategy, saying planning and budgeting is the next step in the process.