Auditor-General's overview

E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangarangatanga maha o te motu, tēnā koutou.

As a country, we regularly see the damaging consequences of a changing climate. These affect our lives, our livelihoods, our environment, and our way of life. They are challenging and expensive to address and it is probable they will continue to worsen, at least for the foreseeable future. For councils, climate change and its impacts are likely to be the most enduring and pervasive challenge they will face, extending beyond council boundaries and across multiple electoral terms. Clear strategies, a constancy of purpose, resourcing, and community support will be needed over many years – and decades – to come. Responding to climate change will also require co-ordination between central and local government, and with business and communities. None of this is easy.

Legislative frameworks to guide councils in their climate response are still in their formative stage. Nevertheless, most councils recognise the importance of acting now to help reduce their own, and their communities', greenhouse gas emissions and to prepare for and adapt to the impacts of a changing climate.

I wanted to know how well councils are moving from talking about climate action to taking action. I wanted to understand how well they were gathering information about climate risks, how they used strategies to prioritise actions, how they worked across territorial boundaries, how they involved communities in the process (including iwi, hapū, and Māori), and how they monitored their progress.

Four councils were chosen for this performance audit – Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury), Christchurch City Council, Nelson City Council, and Whanganui District Council. These include large, small, regional, territorial, and unitary councils. Our intention was that good practice and recommendations in this report would be useful for all councils.

What we found

Councils identify climate change as a strategic priority

All four councils had identified climate change as a strategic priority in some way. They have all declared a climate emergency. Work to address climate change is under way, but identifying climate change as a strategic priority has not always translated into treating it as one. Strategic priorities should clearly drive council activities, and be seen to do so. They need to be integrated into planning and resourcing and visible in governance decisions, community engagement, and reporting about progress and performance.

The councils we looked at have climate-related initiatives under way and we saw good examples of climate change considerations being embedded in council processes. Some of the climate-related initiatives are especially important for addressing future impacts, such as coastal inundation or inland flooding.

Despite the absence of a legislative and financial framework to support some of the more significant climate adaptation options, councils are getting on with the important task of talking with their communities about what matters to them and what adaptation options look like. These are important conversations that all councils should be having.

Governance arrangements over climate change programmes varies

Governance arrangements have a critical role in ensuring good organisational performance. We found the approach to governance over council climate programmes varied and was not always clear. For governance to work well, the arrangements need to be clear. Governing bodies need to be adequately resourced and receive timely, accurate, and relevant information to monitor progress and make informed decisions.

Councils are actively seeking information on climate risks

All four councils were taking steps to ensure that they are well informed of the potential localised impacts of climate change. All had climate risk information from central government organisations and had supplemented it with detailed risk assessments tailored to their local areas.

The councils are also working together to understand climate risks. Environment Canterbury has been supporting other Canterbury councils with technical advice on climate-related risks and impacts, and we were told that Christchurch City Council is also using its online risk mapping technology in joint work with other Canterbury councils. Nelson City Council is partnering with neighbouring Tasman District Council on its climate risk assessment. This type of collaboration – and leadership from larger councils – is important because climate impacts do not respect council boundaries. Collaboration is particularly important for smaller councils, which are less likely to have the resources and technical expertise of larger councils.

Engaging communities is an important part of a climate change response

The councils had varied – but generally effective – approaches to engaging with their communities on key climate issues. Communities are the primary stakeholders in council climate responses, and council efforts to seek community input and feedback reflect that.

Through this work, we saw positive engagement with iwi and hapū, but also challenges. For engagement to be meaningful, councils need to give careful thought to how they can reflect te ao Māori concepts in their approach to climate change as well as their approach to engaging iwi, hapū, and Māori. Te ao Māori perspectives of climate change as one aspect of a wider dialogue about environmental care and protection will likely challenge traditional council approaches to problem solving. That challenge is exacerbated by the limited capacity of iwi and hapū to engage with councils on these matters alongside all the other matters on which councils and others seek engagement.

As in previous work, we heard about the pivotal role of personal relationships and connections, the importance of mutual respect, and the need for engagement to be mutually beneficial. These are findings we comment on frequently in our wider work.

Keeping communities informed of progress with climate actions is important for "closing the loop" on community engagement. We saw useful information being published. There were also gaps. Maintaining community support is critical to the success of climate actions and, in my view, keeping communities well informed is fundamental to maintaining that support.

Formal reporting on performance is also important for community engagement. It is a critical part of the accountability process and has a role in making sure that councils achieve their objectives. Some councils have added new climate-related performance measures into their long-term plans. These are positive steps, but they still represent only a small portion of what the councils are doing to meet their climate-related objectives. I encourage all councils to make greater and better use of formal public performance reporting frameworks and measures that reflect their climate-related strategic priorities.

Final comments

All four councils are making progress with their responses to climate change and doing so in an uncertain and evolving national policy environment. Even so, communities at risk of climate change need to see sustained momentum – from both central and local government. For councils, the immediate tasks include keeping a focus on clear climate strategies, effective governance arrangements, meaningful engagement with communities, particularly with iwi, hapū, and Māori, and robust progress monitoring.

The impacts of a changing climate will affect council operations and strategies for many years to come. Understanding the long-term nature of these impacts – and establishing enduring strategies and commitments – is important now if councils are to effectively play their part in how our country adapts.

I 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.

The fieldwork for this report was carried out when council staff were busy preparing their 2024-34 long-term plans. I thank the staff and councillors of the four councils who contributed to our audit, as well as the iwi, hapū, and rūnanga representatives and other community leaders who volunteered their time to support this work.

Nāku noa, nā

John Ryan
Controller and Auditor-General | Tumuaki o te Mana Arotake

23 October 2024