Our environment

Te pāka mai o te hurika āhuaraki ki tō tātau tāone

What climate change means for our city

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing us. It is already affecting communities in many ways. Our 9 year plan includes climate projections,

and sets out how we plan to reduce the city’s emissions and prepare to adapt to the growing effects of climate change over the coming years.

Reducing our emissions – Zero Carbon 2030

In 2019, the Council declared a climate emergency. In response to this, the DCC is taking action:

to reduce the city’s emissions, and
to reduce the DCC’s organisational emissions

At the city scale, we have a Zero Carbon commitment to:

Reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (excluding biogenic methane), and
Reduce biogenic methane emissions in line with Government targets.

We measure and report city emissions in line with an international standard for cities called the Global Protocol for Community-Scale GHG Inventories (GPC - BASIC+ methodology). Under this methodology, the city’s biggest emissions sources are agriculture (46%) and transport (34%). Some emissions are absorbed by the city’s forests (sequestration).

‘Net zero’ means greenhouse gases that we emit into the atmosphere (excluding biogenic methane) are in balance with the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by forests. It would be inconsistent with GPC to purchase additional carbon offsets to achieve this target.

Biogenic methane is methane produced and released from living organisms like plants and animals.

The city’s biogenic methane reduction targets are the same as the central government targets:

10% reduction from 2017 levels by 2030.
24-47% reduction from 2017 levels by 2050.

The DCC also has targets for its own organisation’s gross emissions, as follows:

By 2026/27, a 30% reduction in annual emissions from the 2018/19 baseline of 84,216 tCO2e.
By 2030/31, a 42% reduction in annual emissions from the 2018/19 baseline of 84,216 tCO2e.

The DCC measures and manages organisational emissions in line with international standard ISO 14064 using the ‘operational control’ methodology.

This includes emissions from activities undertaken by DCC staff when providing services, emissions from DCC assets, and emissions generated by contractors working on behalf of the DCC.

Emissions reduction plans and reporting

Council has adopted a Zero Carbon Policy, which directs the DCC to prioritise gross emissions reduction to help meet both city and Council targets. We also have:

a Zero Carbon Plan that sets out key shifts required to achieve Dunedin’s target, and roles for the DCC in bringing about those changes; and
a DCC Emissions Management and Reduction Plan, that sets out actions required to achieve organisational targets.

The Zero Carbon Plan focuses on reducing gross emissions where possible, rather than relying on sequestration alone. This aligns with the Zero Carbon Policy, best practice for developed countries, and with what scientists suggest is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

The DCC reports annually on progress to reduce emissions at both scales:

The DCC’s annual organisational emissions reporting is independently audited before being presented to Council
Progress on Otepoti Dunedin’s targets is reported through CDP, an independent global disclosure platform.

Our emissions as a council and as a city have reduced since we set our Zero Carbon targets in 2019. The draft 9 year plan includes projects that will continue to bring emissions down, and we’ll keep

working with our partners to support their efforts and initiatives. While our Zero Carbon targets were always ambitious, it is almost certain that we won’t reach our city’s 2030 goal without additional investment. It is however possible that we may achieve organisational targets with the level of investment proposed in the 9 year plan.

We will continue our work to reduce emissions from waste by providing better resource recovery facilities and by improving gas capture at the landfill. We’re planning to change a good proportion of our DCC buildings and fleet over to clean energy by 2030, and we’ve included some projects that will help reduce transport emissions by making individual streets safer, faster and easier for cyclists, bus users and pedestrians e.g. $7 million for Princes Street over the first four years of the 9 year plan.

Council considered two investment packages, in addition to the work that we are already doing, that would have accelerated our efforts to reduce carbon emissions as a city and brought us closer to our zero carbon targets. It is unlikely either package would bring about the degree of change at the pace required to achieve the city’s 2030 target.

Neither of these packages have been included in the draft budget. Council has asked staff to provide further information about the zero carbon impacts of the draft budget in time for the May deliberation meeting where this matter will be considered further. This will allow time to hear from the community as part of the 9 year plan consultation.

Adapting to climate change

We are developing a citywide climate resilience framework to guide Council and communities as they make decisions about how to respond to climate change hazards. These hazards threaten Council and community infrastructure and can cause major disruption to people’s lives and livelihoods – and many of them are expected to get worse with the growing impacts of climate change.

Areas of concern include communities that live near the coast or waterways, flat and low-lying areas, and the effects of drought on inland catchments.

The framework sets out a process to help us better understand the challenges we face, identify the options we have on the table, and agree the best course of action. We propose to spend $700,000 over the 2025-27 years to design and establish the framework.

Learn more about Zero Carbon

South Dunedin Future

continue day-to-day management of the stormwater and wastewater systems, including repairs and renewals
deliver several short-term/small-scale projects that can be done to help reduce short-term flood risk – with a budget of $29.2 million for years 1-5 of the 9 year plan, as follows:

– Diverting the Bay View Road and New Street stormwater systems to a new stormwater pipe that would carry it directly to the Portobello Road pumping station – estimated cost $1.9 million (2025/26 to 2027/28)

– Upgrading the capacity of the Forbury Road stormwater pipe – estimated cost $12 million (2025/26 to 2027/28)

– Disconnecting the Hillside Road stormwater main from the Portobello Road system and pumping it to the Orari Street stormwater outfall instead – estimated cost $15.3 million (2025/26 to 2029/30).

start work on a mid-term/mid-scale project to reconfigure the stormwater system in South Dunedin, potentially splitting the catchment into two more manageable areas, once the South Dunedin Future adaptation plan is complete – with a budget of $15 million to begin work in the period from 2030/31 to 2033/34.
complete long-term/large-scale climate adaptation and flood resilience planning.

Learn more about South Dunedin Futures

Kettle Park

The coastline from St Clair to St Kilda is highly valued by mana whenua, locals and visitors. The 2022 St Clair to St Kilda Coastal Plan – Whakahekerau-Rakiātea Rautaki Tai articulates the city’s aspirations and vision for this valued coastline

for future generations. It sets out how we will manage and adapt the coast over time to bring us closer to that vision and respond to the effects of coastal hazards and climate change.

While beaches and dunes are dynamic environments affected by winds, waves, tides and currents, the biggest changes to this coastline have been caused by decades of modifications across South Dunedin, which was originally a marshy area with tidal flats, wetlands, a lagoon and extensive dunes. It is also affected by the impacts of climate change and by natural and human-caused hazards. Further changes come from a range of coastal infrastructure, such as seawalls, groynes and geotextile bags, installed to create public amenities and protect both the beach and South Dunedin.

One of the most significant hazards for the coast is the former landfill at Kettle Park. This area, which is now used for sports fields, operated as a landfill between 1900 and 1950. It runs alongside Middle Beach, between St Clair and St Kilda. Some of the landfill sits within the dune system itself and is exposed from time to time due to erosion. Since 2011, we have been working to understand the landfill better – how far it extends, what’s in it, the risks, and options for remediation.

We know that the dunes are eroding – both gradually and, more seriously, during storms. This creates a risk of contaminated material being released onto the beach and into the sea, as the core of the landfill is only four metres away from the dune face. These risks will increase with sea level rise.

In the long term, we need to remediate the landfill, remove the material and change the profile of the dunes to better protect South Dunedin. The draft operating budget for this 9 year plan includes $37.8 million, starting in the 2030/31 year, for remediation of the landfill, proposed to be paid for from general rates. This timing will allow us to complete complex detailed design before physical work starts. It also aligns with the completion of the Smooth Hill landfill, which is where the material from Kettle Park will go.

In the meantime, we are using geotextile bags at the toe of the dune face to reduce the risk of exposure. While these are a temporary measure with a short lifespan, we will maintain and replace them as needed.

Te whakarite i te para

Managing waste

In July 2024 we added green- lidded bins for food scraps and garden waste to our kerbside collection service, and we replaced rubbish bags with red-lidded bins.

In the first six months of the enhanced service over 7,377 tonnes of organic material from the green-lidded bins was composted and reused. Previously, it would have been buried in the landfill producing the climate changing gas, methane, as it decomposed.

We’re also reviewing our Waste Management and Minimisation Plan – Mahere Whakahaere me te Whakamōtio Para, setting the city’s direction for further preventing waste and emissions, and building an economy where materials we use to live, work and play are reused, repaired, recycled or safely returned to the environment.

Green Island landfill resource recovery park redevelopment

In December 2024, we got resource consent for a major redevelopment of the Green Island Landfill Resource Recovery Park (RRP).

At the moment, we transport unsorted material collected from yellow and green-lidded kerbside bins to a resource recovery park in Timaru, but soon we will no longer need to. A new mixed recycling facility at the Green Island RRP will sort the contents of yellow-lidded mixed recycling kerbside bins to on sell to other markets. A new composting facility will process food scraps and garden waste from the green-lidded bins for reuse.

The redevelopment will also upgrade areas for:

dropping off recyclable material and garden waste
sorting glass
education to minimise waste
the waste transfer station, where you take rubbish that goes straight to the landfill.

The Rummage Shop for donating or buying pre-loved items will remain. We’re also planning a second rummage store in the central city at a cost of $1.5 million, and we’re looking at three community run recycling centres at a cost of $660,000.

Green Island Landfill (GIL) is filling up. The DCC has applied to the Otago Regional Council for consent to operate GIL until it’s planned closure around 2029/30. Once closed, it will open up possibilities for recreational use in the area around it, e.g., walking and biking tracks beside the Kaikorai Estuary.

A new city landfill at Smooth Hill

We work hard to help you reduce and reuse waste, but there will always be rubbish that must go to a well-managed landfill.

While the DCC already has resource consent to replace GIL with a modern, top-class landfill at its Smooth Hill site on Big Stone Road, we have investigated options to:

export waste to another district’s landfill
build Smooth Hill Landfill in a partnership with a private waste company, or
build a landfill at Smooth Hill alone.

Council has decided in principle to build a landfill at Smooth Hill alone because:

Council maintains control
it allows Council to focus on its waste minimisation goals
Council retains 100% of the landfill’s revenue
financially, it is the best option in the long term
it provides resilience and self-sufficiency, including in natural disasters
mana whenua supports this option
it aligns with Council’s Zero Carbon Policy
there are economic benefits to Ōtepoti Dunedin
it minimises risks around fuel price increases, as compared to the export option.

Smooth Hill Landfill will be designed to service the city for up to 70 years depending on rubbish tonnage amounts. We are monitoring the empty site’s air, water, soil, and ecology (including pests such as southern black-backed gulls) for three years ending in late 2025. This baseline data will help us maintain high environmental standards when the new landfill is operating.

$92.4 million has been allocated in the 9 year plan for landfill construction and upgrading roads to improve access for trucks travelling from the Green Island RRP transfer station. Construction is planned for completion before Green Island Landfill closes around 2029/30.

Single-use cups

In 2024, Council declared a commitment to Dunedin becoming free of single-use cups as part of its waste minimisation goals. Our first step was to make this change for events we run in our venues. The Civic Centre, the Dunedin Public Library, Toitū Otago Settlers Museum and the Dunedin Public Art Gallery are working towards being free of single-use cups. We have asked our companies to become single-use cup free by the end of 2025 and will promote this initiative to business and hospitality communities through our networks and events. We have also encouraged the Government to change the law to ban all single-use cups.

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