How well four councils are responding to a changing climate
Summary of our report
In many ways, councils are at the front line of a wider response to climate change. Councils are largely responsible for civil defence, regional and district land use, planning, and major community infrastructure. They are the owners of significant assets, some of which are at risk because of climate change.
The councils had varied – but generally effective – approaches to engaging with their communities on key climate issues. All four councils have, in different ways, supported their communities to be meaningfully engaged in climate action. We saw good examples of progress updates on council websites. We also saw gaps. Some climate actions we looked at lacked sufficient progress reporting, with information that was limited or not up to date.
We have made five recommendations to support the positive efforts of the four councils we looked at, and for all councils to consider when preparing and implementing their responses to climate change.
What's in this report
What we looked at and why
We wanted to understand how well councils were moving beyond high-level climate change commitments and strategies towards taking action, and we also wanted to make a positive contribution to climate response momentum among councils.
The council actions we looked at
We drew on evidence from a selection of council climate-related activities. We selected activities based on the amount of council involvement; extent to which the activity had progressed; extent to which climate change was the reason for the initiative; and relevance to themes of interest to the audit.
Implementing and monitoring climate actions
We were interested in the role of climate strategies in shaping and prioritising climate actions, and in the performance monitoring frameworks that the councils established for monitoring and reporting on those actions.
Governance
Governance arrangements have a critical role in ensuring that climate actions are consistent with a council's strategic objectives and priorities. Those arrangements are also critical to overall accountability for a council's performance in achieving climate-related objectives. We expected arrangements to be consistent with our guidance on good governance.
Informing and involving communities
We expected to see councils carrying out meaningful engagement and taking consultation feedback seriously. We also expected public-facing information to enable the public to stay well-informed and engaged in what the councils are doing.
Our recommendations
Our recommendations have been informed by our findings across the four councils. We consider they will be relevant to achieving climate change objectives and demonstrating accountability for all councils. We encourage all councils to consider these recommendations.