EVERYONE DESERVES TO BREATHE CLEAN AIR IN OUR PUBLIC BUILDINGS

More than 750 schools, hospitals, and other state sector buildings are waiting for funding to transition off fossil fuels

Is your local school or hospital still burning fossil fuels, waiting for funding?

The government has committed to decarbonising the public service. But today, there are more than 750 schools, hospitals and public buildings waiting for funding from the government to transition off fossil fuel heating sources (like diesel and gas burners) to renewable heating sources.

Find out how the transition is going using this map:

This map was produced from EECA data, collected in 2011 and 2021.

Send Your Message

Decarbonise our state sector

Every child in Aotearoa should be able to go to school and breathe clean air, and every patient and healthcare worker should be kept warm and well with renewable-powered heating.

Currently, hundreds of our state schools and a number of our hospitals burn fossil fuels (primarily fossil gas) for heating. This is a major risk to the health of our communities and our climate. The Government knows this is a problem, and has already funded some institutions to decarbonise, with great results; clean air, healthier environments and cost savings from energy efficiency. Unfortunately, the funding is nowhere near enough.

Send a message to Finance Minister Nicola Willis, asking her to fully fund the decarbonisation of our schools, hospitals and public buildings.

Many of our schools, hospitals and other state sector buildings are still running off asthma causing, climate-killing fossil fuels - ask the Finance Minister to increase investment in decarbonising the state sector.

For added impact, personalise the message or mention local examples. You can use this map to find a school, hospital or other public building near you that is still being heated with fossil fuels.

Dear Finance Minister,

Every child in Aotearoa should be able to go to school and breathe clean air, and every patient and healthcare worker should be kept warm and well by renewable-powered heating. I'm writing to you with deep concern that hundreds of our schools and hospitals are still burning fossil fuels for heating, without any funding on the horizon to convert to renewable options.

This is a major risk to the health of our communities and our climate. I understand that you have allocated some funding in the May 2023 Budget to this regard - this is a great step in the right direction - but it’s clear that it’s not enough. We must urgently decarbonise all of our public buildings - not leave schools and hospitals burning gas and diesel for years to come.

Everyone - students, workers, educators, and people in in care - deserve clean, safe air to breathe and a stable climate to live in. Our communities are being ravaged by climate breakdown, and there simply can be no place for fossil fuel boilers that put our health and climate at risk in our schools, hospitals and other state sector buildings.
For the sake of all of our collective futures, I urge you to go further, and allocate the extra funding needed to wean our schools, hospitals and other publicly owned buildings off fossil fuels.

You can edit this text to make it personal to you.

Hi !

We have your contact info saved from last time, just click the button below to continue.

Not ? Sign out

First name*

Last name*

Email Address*

ZIP Code

Postal Code

Mobile phone

Country

Millions of people are taking quick, simple actions for climate justice – be one of them. Can we send you emails about important campaigns, stories, and actions?

Yes, count me in!

No, sorry.

By taking this action, you are agreeing to our terms of service and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.

So what do we replace fossil fuel boilers with?

When it comes to replacing fossil fuel boilers in schools, hospitals, and other Government buildings with renewable energy, we have several options.

These include standard heat pumps, ground-source heat pumps, electrode boilers and biomass boilers that burn wood waste. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution: it’s important to choose the renewable option that works best in each particular circumstance, including available renewable energy supply and local environmental effects. Whilst biomass boilers have much lower emissions than oil or gas boilers, they still contribute to air pollution and are therefore a less favourable alternative.

Wait! But if we are advocating for electric heating wouldn’t our electricity need to be fossil-free too?

Absolutely, that is why we are also campaigning to make New Zealand’s electricity generation 100% fossil free and call for homegrown energy solutions.

Check out our Homegrown Energy campaign here.

How did this campaign begin?

This campaign was started by the Fossil Free State Sector Coalition (FFSSC), a group of unions, climate justice, and health organisations, working together to achieve a fossil free state sector.

Join the campaign!

Want to make your action go further?
Looking for ways to get involved?

Click the buttons below to sign up to a local 350 group and deepen your campaigning skills with some online skill-ups.

Join a local group

Online Skill-ups

Latest News

Updates, stories, and commentary from 350 Aotearoa campaigners, volunteers, our network and partners, and issue experts.

Read here