How is climate change affecting Wellington?
Our city's coastal and hilly topography makes us vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. We’re already experiencing more intense storms, increasing landslide risks, and coastal flooding from sea-level rise.
Projections indicate this will worsen, and these impacts disproportionately affect those most vulnerable to disruption. Climate change will also exacerbate other challenges we face, such as social equity, biodiversity, the affordability of housing, and the resilience of our economy.
What action are you taking to address climate change?
We have a climate action plan - “Te Atakura – First to Zero” - outlining key activities to reach net zero emissions by 2050, with an interim target of a 57 per cent reduction by 2030.
Our primary focus is to invest in public and active transport and waste infrastructure changes, and to use our city planning capabilities to enable dense urban living. But we also support our communities and amplify their efforts. For example, we support community and business initiatives that drive emissions reductions or foster climate action, and we directly engage residents, leveraging local knowledge to co-design solutions for areas at high risk from coastal flooding and landslips.
Our forestry is also making an important contribution to our 2050 net zero carbon goal while enhancing “te taiao” (the natural world, encompassing land, water, and all living beings). We support the city’s growing biodiversity with a restoration planting programme, which aims to plant up to 120,000 native trees and shrubs annually in Wellington’s reserves and coastal dunes. This builds on the work of Wellington’s nature reserve Zealandia, supporting our local birdlife, reptiles, and forest to thrive in the reserve and beyond.
What are the benefits? Why is it important?
By preventing and planning for climate disruption, we can ensure that we are working towards a city where people and nature thrive both now and into the future. Our street improvements create a city where people can bike to work along a harbour pathway or catch a bus, moving more people with fewer vehicles and improving health and well-being. We are enabling our population to grow in a resilient way. Our waste investments are increasing our ability to reduce, reuse and recycle, and this will ultimately save us money as well as reducing emissions. As a result of reforestation and predator eradication, we are one of the few cities in the world increasing its biodiversity and able to hear the kiwi, our national bird, once again call through the night.