Local government – Common Climate Network

Meet the Green Taskforce

Have you posted your voting papers yet? One more day to go – see how your candidates rank on climate change.

Robert Gibb is one of the founders and co-leaders of the Green Taskforce, active out of the All Saints’ Parish in Palmerston North. The Green Taskforce have distributed the Common Climate Network questionnaire to candidates running for Palmerston North City Council, Horizons Regional Council, and also to Mayoral candidates for councils in the Horizons region.

Meet Low Carbon Kāpiti

Votes need to be posted by this Saturday, so check out our local government scorecards if you haven’t already. Today we talk to Jake Roos, founder of Low Carbon Kāpiti.

Meet the Millions of Mothers

We have been very lucky to work with some fantastic groups on the local government scorecards project. Today we talk to Alicia Hall, the founder and spokesperson for Millions of Mothers.

Let’s Get Welly Informed – choose climate action this election

From Ōtaki to Seatoun, and Mākara to Kaitoke, voters can choose local governments that care about the issue these elections.

Following the enormous turnout of 40,000 people at the Wellington CBD climate strike yesterday, and the crowds of people at similar protests in Kāpiti and the Hutt Valley, the appetite for finding out where candidates stand on climate action has never been stronger.

Voters can choose climate action this election

Media release – Common Climate Network

New Zealanders can strike for climate action on Friday and follow up by voting for local governments who care about the issue.

The climate strike on Friday (27 Sept) takes place just as people receive their local government voting papers. This year, there is plenty of information to help people choose candidates who care about climate action.

Local government scorecards

Our Local Government Scorecards are published below in PDF form for easy download, as well as the original answers.

Growing the network

The power of a distributed network… we’ve teamed up with a lovely bunch of people up and down the country working hard on bringing you local government scorecards. Ahead of the release next week, we’d like to introduce those groups.

Local government and climate change – what can I do?

So local government elections are only a few weeks away. You might have seen an outbreak of hoardings on berms and fences near you, or seen coverage of the candidates in the local paper.

But what does this have to do with climate change?

Quite a lot, as it turns out. Every three years, we elect councillors and mayors who make decisions about things like transport, waste and urban development, which can all make a difference on whether carbon emissions go up or down.

Which councils are covered? Climate change scorecards for local body elections 2019

We are working with a number of regions to make sure the questionnaire is being run by one central point per region. Find out if your region is already covered.

Ten questions for local government candidates on climate action

The Common Climate Network has developed a questionnaire for candidates this election, and it is being used by groups throughout New Zealand. The answers will be used to score candidates on their views on climate action and the results will be available by 22 September, when the voting papers are sent out.

We’ve had a few inquiries asking what the questions are for voters to use at candidate meetings. So here are the high-level themes in case they are useful for you. We would really welcome your feedback, and are also looking for guest blogs about your experiences and issues in your regions.