The doors to our Whitianga and Paeroa offices will be closed for the summer break from 4pm on Friday, 20 December, while our Taupō and Hamilton offices will close for the summer break at 1pm on Tuesday, 24 December. All offices will reopen on Monday, 6 January 2025. To report air or water pollution, unsafe water activities in or on a river, lake or harbour, or make a general enquiry or information request during this time, call us 24/7 on 0800 800 401.

Close alert
  1. Environment »
  2. Climate
On this page:

Why we're making a stand on climate change

The Waikato region is already experiencing the effects of our changing climate. The changes present risks to our economy, our people, our property and our environment.

Drought and extreme storm events are increasingly affecting the primary sector, upon which the Waikato economy depends. Dairying and agricultural biotechnology are key drivers of our regional economy, with aquaculture, forestry and horticulture also important. The changes that affect primary production will impact on the city and towns that have grown around these industries. There is a clear interdependency between the primary sector and those working in manufacturing, retail, transport, research, and professional and trade services.

Many communities are already feeling the effects of water restrictions on their business and domestic use, and many will face increased fire risk. Low water flows during times of drought impact the ability to generate power through our hydro schemes and the health of our river ecosystems.

More frequent and increasingly extreme storms, increased rainfall events and rising tides will test our coastal communities, infrastructure, roads, rail and communications networks. Our native animals and plants will become increasingly vulnerable, particularly if rates of change are faster than they can adapt.

Collectively, we need to adapt to these changes so we can continue to thrive economically and socially. But more importantly, we need to tackle the root cause of the problem – we need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

We’re all in this together – he waka eke noa.

To better understand the specific climate change risks for the Waikato, we are developing a comprehensive climate change risk assessment for the region. This risk assessment, the first for our region, will bring together our collective understanding of climate risk across all aspects of our environment, our people, our property and our economy.

Learn more about the regional climate change risk assessment project
WRC/WRC-2019/WRC-Climate-Roadmap_TILE.jpg

Our Climate Action Roadmap

Waikato Regional Council has developed the Climate Action Roadmap to guide how it will work with others to support the transition to a climate-resilient, low emissions society that is less vulnerable to disruption, more affordable and better for health and wellbeing.

The Climate Action Roadmap identifies nine pathways, each with a set of council commitments to reduce emissions and adapt to the changes we’re already experiencing. The nine pathways are:

  • water
  • coastal and marine
  • biodiversity and biosecurity
  • regional resilience
  • energy and industry
  • afforestation and planting
  • agriculture and soils
  • urban form and transport
  • community funding and investment

First published in 2020, the Climate Action Roadmap was updated in September 2023 to include the latest assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, changes to New Zealand legislation and the council’s new strategic direction.

 

Read the Climate Action Roadmap

Climate change reports and events

Regional community-scale greenhouse gas inventories

An inventory of the Waikato region’s community-scale greenhouse gas emissions is held every three years. Read the reports, here.

Waikato Regional Council's carbon emissions management and reduction scheme

Read our management plans and reports. In December 2017, we became the first regional council in New Zealand to attain Toitū carbonreduce certification.

Climate Action Committee

Councillors meet regularly to focus on climate change issues. There's also a guest speaker at every Climate Action Committee meeting. Read meeting information, and see recordings of the speaker presentations.

Te Āki Tūroa | Nature+ Framework and Plan

We will be using nature-based solutions to offset our hard-to-reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Te Āki Tūroa focuses on the planting of native trees and shrubs on regional council-owned land to generate carbon credits, while providing habitat for native species and improving water quality and resilience to climate change. You can read about our framework and plan here.

Waikato Regional Climate Impacts Report Applying CMIP6 Data

To help with decision making, the council commissioned detailed climate projections for the Waikato region using the most recent international climate modelling data (CMIP6) and several scenarios from the AR6.

The Waikato region's key climate issues

Greenhouse gases

The major cause of climate change is thought to be human-made greenhouse gases (especially from burning fossil fuels).

Greenhouse gases play an important role in trapping heat in the earth’s atmosphere. Without greenhouse gases, Earth’s average surface temperature would be too cold to support life. But when there’s too much of these gases in the atmosphere, too much heat can be trapped. This is called the 'greenhouse effect'.

The main greenhouse gases are:

  • carbon dioxide (CO2)
  • methane (CH4)
  • nitrous oxide (N2O)
  • chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

New Zealand is unique among developed countries because more than half (55 per cent) of our greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. Agriculture emissions are mostly made up of non-carbon dioxide gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide.

In the Waikato region, industry, agriculture, households and transport all produce greenhouse gases.

  • Petrol and diesel motor vehicles produce CO2, N2O and hydrocarbons.
  • Power stations and other industries that burn fossil fuels release CO2 and N2
  • Domestic heating appliances that burn fossil fuels. Two- and four-stroke lawnmowers, backyard incinerators and barbecues all produce CO2.
  • Livestock, landfills and wastewater treatment facilities produce methane.
  • Agricultural land use and some industrial processes increase nitrous oxides levels.
  • Heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration units produce harmful gases. They must also be disposed of in an environmentally acceptable way (see the link to the Recovery website at the bottom of this page).
  • Removing vegetation adds to the problem because there is less vegetation to act as a 'carbon sink' (vegetation removes carbon dioxide from the air during photosynthesis). In contrast, planting trees and other vegetation helps remove carbon dioxide from the air.
  • Draining and developing peatland areas releases about 1.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.

What can we do about climate change?

    What Government is doing

  • What Government is doing

    In October 2016, the New Zealand Government ratified The Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is an international commitment to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to no more than 1.5°C.

    The Paris Agreement differs from previous international treaties and conventions in that it emphasises processes rather than defined outcomes. It requires signature countries to communicate their commitment. In addition, countries must make an effort towards progress and report on this every five years. They must also develop plans to address climate adaptation, as well as mitigation, with the understanding that global emissions will need to peak as soon as possible to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions by mid-century. There are 196 countries which are party to the agreement. For global warming to remain below 2°C, emissions reductions of 60-80 per cent by 2050 must be achieved.

    The Climate Change Response Act provides a framework for New Zealand to contribute to the global effort under the Paris Agreement. The Climate Change Response Act and associated regulations are the Government’s principal response to managing climate change.

    Find out more on the Ministry for the Environment website.

    Image - drawing of climate change issues

    • What Waikato Regional Council has been doing

    What you can do

Useful links and information

Coastal Inundation Tool

The Waikato region's low lying coastal areas are susceptible to inundation from the impacts of climate change, such as coastal storms and sea level rise. This tool shows areas that may be subject to coastal flooding.