Global efforts to address climate change are falling short. Whakatū Nelson must rapidly address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing resilience to climate disruption.

What we do now is crucial for determining our future. Tackling global greenhouse gas emissions will require coordination at an unprecedented scale – every community, city and country needs to do their part. Although Nelson’s greenhouse gas emissions are small in the global context, what we do in our city matters.

As the effects of climate change are increasingly being felt in Whakatū Nelson, it is crucial that we take action now to reduce the disruption that climate change will cause to our lives and the things we care about.

When it comes to the climate, we're all on the same team. We all share responsibility to act now, particularly for future generations who will be impacted the most by climate change.

The Whakatū Nelson Climate Change Strategy is our path forward. It shows all of us – Council, businesses, landowners, community groups, iwi and whānau, individuals – the roles we can play in tackling climate change. It is our collective roadmap to reduce emissions and prepare for unavoidable changes. It asks us to meet the needs of today without borrowing from tomorrow.

What’s in the Strategy?

The purpose of the Strategy is to set direction to address climate change and guide decisions and actions in the short, medium and long term.

Action on climate change requires changes to be made in every sector of the economy and in all aspects of our lives. This Strategy will inform all of Council’s decisions and influence decisions made by others in the community.

This Strategy includes the Climate Action Plan – this summarises actions currently underway and planned to reduce emissions and prepare for climate change. The Climate Action Plan is a living document. If you are undertaking significant climate-related projects or initiatives, please let us know by emailing climatechangeteam@ncc.govt.nz.

Community emissions reduction targets

We sought community feedback on two options for community-wide emissions reductions targets in the Strategy, one based on New Zealand’s national emissions reductions budgets (Option A) and another, more ambitious, target that is based on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommendation to limit global average temperature rise to 1.5 °C (Option B).

The community emissions reduction target that was voted on and adopted on 3 July 2025 was Option B – a gross reduction of all emissions excluding biogenic methane by 58 per cent, equivalent to an average reduction of 8.3 per cent per year; and a gross reduction in biogenic methane by an average of 1.5 per cent per year.

The eight pillars of the Strategy:

How was the Strategy developed?

The Strategy was developed over months with advice and input from an advisory group of community members and climate change experts, input from Ngā iwi o Te Tauihu and oversight from a taskforce of Council’s elected members.