Managing Carbon Emissions Through Collaboration and Empowerment

Y Praveen, U Dele, N Nitsche (Wellington Water)

S Friggens (Mott MacDonald)

Wellington Water provides three water services to six client councils in the Greater Wellington Region. In providing these water services the business generates carbon emissions from both its operational and capital activities. The six client councils have declared climate emergencies, emphasising the need to reduce carbon emissions in line with New Zealand’s Carbon Zero Act. Considering these commitments by the client councils and New Zealand Government - ‘Net Zero by 2050’ is the fifth strategic priority of Wellington Water.

To help achieve this priority, Wellington Water has integrated a carbon management system into its capital programme delivery process. This system enables carbon to be monitored, reported and reduced at every stage of the projects within Wellington Water’s Long Term Plan. It has initially focused on ‘capital’ carbon associated with major renewals and the construction of new assets, but is expanding to incorporate a ‘whole-life carbon’ approach that also supports driving down operational and end-of-life emissions. The programme seeks to foster collaboration among the Wellington Whanau, including consultancy and contractor panels as well as internal staff. This collaboration is crucial for cultivating a culture of low-carbon thinking throughout the delivery value chain.

The challenges encountered by Wellington Water to incorporate this programme are: 

1. Establishing a cohesive approach to tackle emissions while accommodating the different ambitions and commitments of each client council.
2. Creating a standardised system which still has the flexibility to accommodate different project types and sizes.
3. Implementing a new system and process at delivery level amidst uncertainties brought by Water Reform.
4. No funding provided by client councils to incorporate carbon monitoring within the programme of work.
5. Communicating the value of managing carbon and gaining the trust of the wider whanau in this process with the absence of legislative requirements.

Wellington Water operates a unique panel model with consultant and contractor organisations in New Zealand to deliver capital projects. Due to the funding constraints it was necessary to devise an innovative way to deliver the carbon programme and embed a governance system and process. Thus, a crucial component of the programme has been collaboration and change management with the consultancy and contractor panel. A focus was put on empowering stakeholders and wider whanau to help deliver this work, emphasising the role that everyone has to play in this carbon journey.

The engagement and collaboration with the carbon integration programme is resulting in several benefits, including improved data collection, higher uptake and use of information, and stronger acceptance and support from stakeholders. Collaboration with the wider whānau has resulted in upskilling and utilisation of local knowledge which has led to a better understanding of capital projects and their associated carbon. With increased understanding of carbon embedded in projects, better decision-making and low carbon outcomes become possible.

This paper discusses the approaches taken by Wellington Water to establish a culture of collaboration and empowerment, and outlines the lessons learned from both success and setbacks encountered while navigating these challenges.