On the road to clean growth

Simply put, clean growth is about growing economies and safeguarding the environment at the same time. These outcomes are sometimes perceived as being mutually exclusive, but that’s not the case at all.

The concept of clean growth can arguably be traced back to 18th Century British economist Thomas Malthus, who investigated the tendency of humans to outstrip available resources. But it wasn’t until much later in the 20th Century when questions began to be raised about environmental degradation in the face of economic growth.

We’ve only lately come to realise that they’re not a tug of war. Fighting climate change and economic growth are connected in ways that now make it difficult to achieve sustained progress in either, without actively targeting both.

In fact, doing nothing to fight climate change poses a massive risk to economies. Research from multinational reinsurer Swiss Re shows that the global economy could lose 10 percent of its total value by 2050 due to climate change.

If the world continues its warming trajectory Aotearoa New Zealand’s economy won’t be immune from these effects. We already know that between 2007 and 2017 climate change-related floods and droughts cost an estimated $840 million.

This is one reason why adapting to the impacts of climate change is being integrated into much of our future transport planning and investment.

Transport and clean growth

With transport being one of New Zealand's largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, plans for rapidly decarbonising the sector feature heavily in the Government's just-released Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP). Transport is also a focus of regional plans like Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri: Auckland's Climate Plan and the Wellington Regional Growth framework. Achieving the transport targets in these plans will require big changes to the way that Kiwis travel. Clean growth will play a critical role.

From a transport perspective, clean growth involves driving down emissions by getting people out of fossil fuel vehicles, building new public transport networks including rail, and developing community-focused urban environments that de-emphasise private vehicle ownership and encourage active modes of travel.

Integrating decisions about transport and land use planning is a core clean growth principle – one that will make a big difference in meeting our decarbonisation and climate goals. Consider, for instance, the building of denser urban housing around new public transit hubs - meaning more people can walk, cycle, bus or train for most of their daily journeys.

On the economic side of the ledger, better public transit / active travel solutions and densification correlate to improved urban economies and better opportunities for people living and working in these areas.

A study from the UK for instance, found that transport improvements can expand labour market catchments, improve job matching and facilitate business to business interactions.

In a literature review from the University of Birmingham, compact towns optimised for walking and cycling were found to have a retail density (spend per square metre) up to 2.5 times higher than a typical urban centre. Plus, public realm improvements, including those that cater for cycling, can result in increased trade at local businesses; up to 49 percent in New York City.

The scale of the challenge

Society has taken an age to wake up to the clean growth imperative, but better late than never. With this decade being make or break for the planet it’s now crunch time.

Here in New Zealand, transport emissions are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions - an issue made worse by a growing population who will default to cars if realistic and reliable transport alternatives aren’t quickly made available.

The number of people in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland will rise from about 1.7 million to 2 million by the early 2030s, but our net national emissions must reduce by 50 percent in the same timeframe. This puts into context the scale of the clean growth challenge. In acting as quickly as possible, the transport sector has a vital role to play.

Clean growth transport in action

You don’t have to look far to see clean growth transport and urban revitalisation in action. With projects like Auckland Light Rail, an additional Waitemata Harbour Connection, Let’s Get Wellington Moving, the Wellington to Lower Hutt walking and cycling link (Te Ara Tupua) and Hutt Valley’s RiverLink development, there are some truly transformational initiatives in the planning stages that have the potential to be clean growth exemplars.

But clean growth isn’t just about big-ticket items. On a smaller scale, clean growth transport projects can range from building new cycleways and pedestrian spaces to repurposing car parking buildings for apartments, offices or community hubs.

Every time you see road space given over for more active transport options or new public transport, that’s clean growth in action. Repurposing to make the best use of existing transport assets is fundamental to sustainability and reaching an end goal of net zero transport emissions.

While we don’t know exactly how Kiwis will respond to seeing more clean growth transport initiatives, what we do know is that transforming the way people travel in the 21st Century is a complex area.

Behavioural science techniques will play an important role in getting people out of their cars and into more sustainable transport modes. But perhaps more importantly, in saving the planet and growing local economies, New Zealand’s upcoming slate of clean growth transport projects – large and small - will help inspire wider social benefits and be the change we all so urgently need.