Queenstown Lakes District council is unlikely to declare a "climate emergency'' before a draft climate change policy and action plan has been presented to councillors next month.
Council climate change team leader and corporate services strategy and development manager Michelle Morss said she was aware a climate emergency had been declared in other parts of the country and members of the climate change lobby group Extinction Rebellion Queenstown Lakes were planning to attend a council meeting next month to ask councillors to declare a climate emergency in the district.
However, she said council officers did not want to preempt any decision councillors might make and before they had seen the draft climate change policy and action plan.
Council policy and performance team began working on a draft climate action plan after being given a mandate from the council in December.
Since then, officers have been meeting key community stakeholders and holding My Place public consultation workshops around the region to find out the concerns and focus of residents.
Ms Morss said council was taking climate change "extremely seriously'' and this was "only our first line in the sand in making some progress in this space''.
She said although the Queenstown district was small, there were positive changes the council could make in terms of mitigating the effects of climate change but it had to be balanced with adapting to climate change as it occurred.
The draft climate action plan is scheduled to be presented to councillors at the June meeting, and if approved, community engagement about the draft plan would be held in July and August.
"There is a lot of commitment to making this climate action plan work so I hope people will review it, give us their feedback to help us take it forward and help us deliver on it.''
