Draft Climate Change Strategy
Thanks for your interest in our Climate Change Strategy. This consultation closed April 2015.
The consultation period for providing feedback has now closed
Tell us what you think about the Greater Wellington Regional Council’s draft Climate Change Strategy for the Wellington region.
Climate change is something that will affect everyone in the region. It is often described as the biggest environmental challenge we face.
As a coastal region, hemmed in to the east, south, and west by the sea, we are particularly vulnerable to even a small rise in sea level, and coastal hazards such as erosion and storm surge.
This will be significant and expensive for some landowners across the region. Storms occurring on top of a higher sea level will affect public infrastructure such as transport network and stormwater systems, as well as people’s homes and other buildings.
With help from the community, the Greater Wellington Regional Council has developed a draft Climate Change Strategy for the Wellington region to increase awareness of the risks and to outline the actions it plans to take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help the region to adapt to the effects of climate change.
What do people in the Wellington region think about climate change? What actions are needed? Get involved, share your views, let us know what’s important to you.
Download the draft Climate Change Strategy and tell us what you think by providing your comments below!
Ask your question about climate and our climatologist Dr. Alex Pezza will endeavour to have it answered as soon as possible. Policy Advisor, Laura McKim, from GWRC's Strategic Planning department, will also provide input.
Alex has just started as the new GWRC Climatologist. He has a PhD in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil (the city where he was born), and 10 years of teaching and research experience at Melbourne University in Australia. Alex is passionate about climate and environment, and is learning about what climate information we need to best fulfil our obligations, leading us into a safer and more sustainable future. Most of his previous research is about extreme weather events such as heat and cold waves, floods and droughts, and their association with climate variability and change on a global scale. As Alex says, "It is important to remind people that the role of a climate scientist is not restricted to climate change - understanding natural climate variability is also fundamental to make sure that we know how to identify where we are vulnerable, and increase our quality of life."