13 December 2021 – by Evelyn Workman
Residents of Auckland, the most populous city in New Zealand, will have to pay around 1 dollar per week under a proposed new climate tax. The money raised from the tax will go towards making the city greener and reducing emissions.
The plan was announced by Auckland mayor, Phil Goff, on December 1. Auckland officials have said that the proposal is one of the first of its kind in the world.
Homeowners will be taxed on average $NZ1.10 a week, which is estimated to raise around $574m over 10 years. The proceeds will be added to a proposed fund which aims to design a more environmentally friendly city through a range of initiatives, including decarbonising the transport sector and making more green spaces.
One of the big aims is to decarbonise the ferry fleet, as this currently contributes 21% of the city’s emissions from transport. In addition to this, the fund will also create more routes for pedestrians and cyclists, and create a greener city by planting more trees.
In a statement, Mayor Goff said, “While nobody relishes the idea of paying more rates, we’ve heard clearly from Aucklanders that they want us to do more on climate change and to improve our public transport system. We must be able to say to future generations that we used every tool in the toolbox to tackle the climate crisis.”
“Long after COVID-19 ceases to be a major threat to us, there will be the ongoing crisis caused by climate change – we can’t afford to put off any longer the action needed to avoid a climate disaster,” the mayor added.
The rate is an important part of the “mayoral proposal” that will be voted on next year.
