Waikato Regional Council news
Transport is the one sector that provides best bang for buck when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to Dr Paul Winton of the 1point5 Project.
Dr Winton presented a compelling story to Waikato Regional Council and stakeholders in council chambers this week, sharing his analysis of New Zealand’s emissions and the most pragmatic path to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5°C that New Zealand has committed to under the Zero Carbon Act of 2019.
To achieve a 1.5°C world, Dr Winton’s analysis showed that New Zealand must reduce its carbon-equivalent emissions by around 60 per cent from 2020 levels by 2030. He said doing this would require, among other things, the almost complete decarbonisation of road transport by 2030, which was the least difficult of New Zealand’s options to reduce greenhouse gases and achievable using solutions that already exist.
Dr Winton demonstrated his scenario building tool, Transport2030 (developed by MRCagney), which is focused on Auckland and shows how changing the transport network can reduce carbon emissions without spending billions of dollars on new capital heavy projects.
He did this by using scenarios of:
- opening the streets for people not vehicles
- opening streets for buses
- introducing car emissions standards
- increasing the average car occupancy
- electrification of vehicles.
“We need to get really serious about cycling, open our streets to our people and provide them with a safe healthy and equitable option to get around,” Dr Winton said.
“A lot of our trips are short trips. In Auckland, more than half the trips are only 2 or 3 kilometres.
“Two weeks ago, the UK transport secretary said all cities and towns by 2030 will have more than half of all trips taken by bike or by foot. These are the cities we are competing with. If you want to bring talent here, don’t look like a car-centric city.
“It is true the transformation we need to make in the next decade is going to be really, really hard but it’s going to be a lot easier than the transformation we’ll have to make if we don’t act and it’s a lot cheaper than the transformation we will make if we don’t act.”
Dr Winton said cars would always be “part of the mix” but we need to electrify the fleet and “discourage cars that have 1.1 people in them” by introducing congestion charges and making parking harder.
“We need to get serious about emissions standards. No one should bring a new Ranger or Hilux into the country. Each of these is the equivalent of cutting down 50 mature kauri trees. We need to stop bringing those carbon bombs into the country..”
In the Waikato, transport makes up 16 per cent of our emissions but is the fastest growing regional emissions source.
Climate Action Committee chair Jennifer Nickel said Dr Winton had given Waikato Regional Council, its staff and all the stakeholders in the transportation sector something to think about.
“He’s given us the challenge to do something about it and to do something fast.”
Public Transport Regional Connections Committee chair Angela Strange said she was inspired by the solutions Dr Winton provided for the urban areas and would be keen to explore how rural communities could be better supported with changes to the transport sector.