Lower Hutt Community Climate Change Response

Our pathway for Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai / Lower Hutt

The Lower Hutt community, through a co-design process led by a group of community representatives, has developed the Lower Hutt Climate Action Pathway Te Ara Whakamua o Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai, entitled ‘Our race against time Ka whati te tai, ka pao te torea!’.

It sets out the pathway for our city to achieve our zero emissions target, and prepare for the impacts of a changing climate. Actions to reduce emissions include switching to electric vehicles and shifting to alternative modes of transport, moving out of fossil fuels to heat homes, and reducing waste.

Find out why our city has been doing this work:

Our co-design approach

We used a co-design approach to engage with our communities, and to develop the city-wide pathway. In late 2020, Hutt City Council established a Lead Group of community representatives to design the engagement (Phase 1 and 2). Between March and June 2021 (Phase 3), multiple hui were held across Lower Hutt to find out our communities’ priorities in order to drive the city-wide response to climate change. You can find the record of those hui as well as the Phase 3 Engagement Report under the Key Documents section. 

Between August and December 2021, we engaged with a wide range of central, regional and local government organisations, community leaders, subject matter experts and academics to understand where to build our action for climate change. We held nine 'Alignment Hui' to explore what is currently underway or planned, as well as discuss how we can strengthen connections to accelerate progress.

You can view the outputs of these meetings under the Key Documents > Alignment Hui Outputs section.

We then held six 'CoLab and Proof of Concept' sessions to explore specific pilot projects that could be developed in Phase 5 of the Programme.

You can view the outputs of these meetings under the Key Documents > CoLab and Proof of Concept Outputs section.

The information gathered during Phase 3 and 4 was consolidated into the Lower Hutt Climate Action Pathway Te Ara Whakamua o Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai.

Hutt City Interim Carbon Reduction and Climate Resilience Plan 2021-31

Complementary to the city-wide Pathway, Hutt City Council has produced an Interim Carbon Reduction and Climate Resilience Plan 2021-2031 | Mahere Hukihuki Whakaiti Waro me te Manawaroa a-Ahuarangi mo Te Kaunihera o Te Awa Kairangi. It describes what actions the council is taking as it works towards becoming a carbon neutral organisation by 2050.