Climate change - definitions

Mitigation is how we reduce greenhouse gas emissions which are the causes of climate change. This simply means how we take action to reduce emissions.

Adaptation is how we take action to reduce the negative impacts and manage the risks of climate change.

Adaptation projects enable communities to adapt to the potential impacts of climate variability and change.

Carbon in-setting means that instead of purchasing carbon credits to offset our residual emissions, we invest the money into an internal project that either helps to reduce emissions at source or sequesters carbon. An example is the Waingake native planting programme.

Just/equitable transition is how we carry everybody in the region along to avoid unfair outcomes as we move from a carbon-intensive system to a low-carbon future. This also means that people will not lose their employment or suffer other impacts because of climate change action.

Net-zero is when the atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gasses are balanced by removal measures.

Zero-carbon is when there is no atmospheric emission of greenhouse gasses.