The Dunedin City Council is being urged to adopt a plan to achieve carbon neutrality for the city by 2030 and to fund action accordingly.
Delays to taking meaningful action must end, University of Otago public health physician Associate Prof Alex Macmillan told councillors at a meeting this week.
Sticking with a 2030 target was necessary to save lives, she said.
Air pollution from motor vehicles and the burning of fossil fuels in homes was damaging to public health, made people’s asthma worse and contributed to deaths, she said.
The council is to consider a comprehensive draft zero-carbon plan and financial information about options later this month or next.
Transformation would be required in a range of sectors, including transport and waste management.
The draft plan had been due to be discussed at a council meeting last month, but it was withdrawn from the agenda because key staff were away sick and because of feedback the plan should be considered alongside another about costs of implementation.
Assoc Prof Macmillan made a presentation during the council’s customer and regulatory services committee meeting public forum on Tuesday, during which she was asked about the merits of pursuing a 2030 target, compared with pushing it out to 2050.
"We know from the science that 2050 is too late," she said.
Cities internationally that had adopted ambitious action were experiencing health and wellbeing benefits, she said.
Forest and Bird Dunedin is also calling for the council to adopt the 2030 plan and provide funding options to match.
A petition it started said the international Paris agreement target of net zero by 2050 needed to be hit to avoid consequences.
"For Ōtepoti Dunedin, this means more extreme weather events, rising sea-levels and more pressure on our native wildlife and ecosystems."
Dunedin’s draft plan outlined an "effective and practical way forward with sufficient ambition to match the scale of the challenge" facing the region.
The petition had been signed by more than 300 people as of yesterday afternoon.
Assoc Prof Macmillan told councillors recent research revealed pollution from vehicles was causing more harm than had been thought, both in Dunedin and in New Zealand generally.
The need to shift away from using fossil fuels to heat houses was also becoming more urgent.
"Dunedin has one of the worst air quality statistics in the country," she said.
Some changes could be achieved through regulation and others by developing infrastructure.
"For every dollar we spend on high-quality cycling infrastructure, we get $20 or more back in public health benefits," Assoc Prof Macmillan said.
The university and city council had so far been aligned in pursuing the 2030 target, she said.
"That’s leadership we should be proud of."
There was a high level of support from the public and large employers to stay the course, she said.
Cr Jim O’Malley said at the meeting people had made guesses about why consideration of the draft plan had been delayed.
He wanted to be able to give effect to the plan and this included looking to budget for it, he said afterwards.
