Environmental policy

Auckland City is the territorial local authority for the City of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand and the commercial centre of the Auckland Region. The City is located between two harbours and includes the Hauraki Gulf Islands, an extensive network of beaches, volcanic features, large parks and native bush. It has an increasingly diverse cultural and social mix.

Council supports environmental protection and the prevention of pollution through its own operations as an employer and consumer of products in all business functions, and by helping the community and businesses balance environmental and economic goals. This is achieved through many of the Council’s activities including:

advocating and regulating for the protection and sustainable management of the environment,
providing services and facilities that act to protect and enhance the environment,
providing and managing of growth and development,
providing and managing utilities including the district’s road network,
and managing land as a land owner.

Through this policy, Auckland City has an opportunity to enhance the environment and to advance environmental best practice within the organisation and the Auckland community.

This policy has been adopted by Auckland City’s council and its staff. It is a significant contribution towards the achieving the vision of being the outstanding organisation of the South Pacific.

Auckland City will demonstrate leadership and continual improvement in environmental management practice and performance. In all activities Auckland City will seek to identify, monitor and improve the City’s impact on the environment. To this end we will:

Aim to achieve a level of performance which goes beyond that required for compliance with all environmental legislation and regulations including the Council Bylaws, District Plan requirements, Regional Plan requirements, conditions of resource consents, Building Act requirements and the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Prevent pollution, reduce waste and consumption and commit to recovery and recycling as opposed to disposal.
Identify, implement and promote ways to improve efficient use of resources, including energy and water.
Increase public awareness of environmental issues and the actions people can take by promoting environmental education and training both within the Council and the wider community.
Work in partnership with local communities and businesses to create a sustainable City as part of Council’s commitment to Local Agenda 21.
Work with other key business partners and local authorities to enhance environmental best practice.
Incorporate environmental performance standards into contracts and service level agreements and/or give positive weighting to suppliers and contractors who meet the same high environmental standards we impose on ourselves.
Use the organisation’s purchasing power to favour sustainable and "environmentally friendly" products that have least environmental impact.
Adopt a structured environmental management system based on the ISO 14001 standard through all Groups. This system will be the means by which environmental objectives and targets are set and reviewed.
Include environmental considerations in all business planning, including best practical options to reduce or eliminate adverse effects on the environment resulting from the Council’s activities.
Ensure that community costs, affordability and environmental costs and benefits are taken into consideration in Council’s projects.
Produce an annual report on the state of the environment and organisational best practice so that the implementation of this policy can be monitored.
Ensure that the environmental policy is communicated to all employees and made available to the public.