One of our significant activities in 2019/20 was to ensure Waka Kotahi gave effect to government climate change mitigations and reduction targets in the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019. Another significant activity was to publish our first annual Sustainability Monitoring Report, which focused on mitigating climate change, improving public health (including air pollution) and reducing environmental harm, to establish a baseline from which to measure performance improvements.
We worked with central government agencies, including the Ministry of Transport, Ministry for the Environment and Climate Change Commission, to build our collective understanding of the opportunities to reduce land transport emissions through urban form and mode shift interventions. Results from this engagement will inform the development of recommended carbon budgets by the Climate Change Commission, a transport emission action plan being developed by the Ministry of Transport and, ultimately, the government’s response to carbon budgets through an emissions reduction plan.
We initiated collaborative work with other parts of central and local government to develop Te Puna Taiao – a land transport environmental impact model. Development of the model is being prioritised so it can complement our other climate change mitigation resources. These resources include Arataki (our 10-year strategic plan for the land transport system) as well as new tools developed as part of the Investment Decision Making Framework review to ensure emissions impacts are considered in relevant planning documents and when making investment decisions.
Toitū te Taiao, our sustainability action plan, was launched in April 2020. It is the first step in a long-term commitment to significantly reduce the adverse impacts of the land transport system on people, the environment and the climate and to significantly improve public health.
We produced Tiakina te Taiao, our first annual Sustainability Monitoring Report, a companion document to Toitū te Taiao. Tiakina te Taiao reflects on the challenges and outcomes in Toitū te Taiao and starts us on the path of measuring progress towards our vision of a low carbon, safe and healthy land transport system. It provides baseline data from which we and the wider land transport sector can build. We will set targets, improve our data collection and fill the gaps. We are also developing an online data portal, so the data will be easily accessible and can inform decisions.
