Human settlements

Local greenhouse action

2006 - Celebrating a Decade of Local Greenhouse Action

Cities for Climate Protection Australia Reporting 2006

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Reflections 2006

The Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) program is an international campaign delivered by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe, Japan, Latin America, Mexico, South Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the United States. Established in 1993, more than 670 local government participants in 30 countries take part in this highly successful and widely recognised campaign. In Australia the CCP program is delivered by ICLEI Oceania in collaboration with the Australian Government.

In Australia, CCP is delivered through a unique partnership between ICLEI Oceania and the Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO), in the Department of the Environment and Water Resources. The program is an essential part of the Australian Government’s Local Greenhouse Action initiative, with funding of $13.8 million over four years from 2004-05.

On the eve of its tenth anniversary in June 2007, CCP Australia remains the strongest CCP program in the world. Commencing as a pilot program with 29 local government participants in 1997, ten years on there are 218 participants representing more than 82 per cent of the Australian population.

The CCP Australia program builds local government capacity to address climate change through a strategic milestone framework. This framework empowers councils to establish an inventory of their greenhouse gas emissions, set reduction goals, plan and implement actions, monitor and review their progress. To assist with this process, CCP Australia provides councils with technical and program support, resources, opportunities to network and exchange information, and recognition opportunities.

Other support in the form of information, incentives and Australian Government grants also helps local governments identify approaches and take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and understand the potential impacts of climate change. In 2006, under the Local Greenhouse Action Initiative, the Australian Government again provided CCP councils grant assistance of $4000 each to complete greenhouse inventories for Milestone 1, Milestone 5, and CCP Plus: Planning and Review. Groupings of at least three CCP councils (at Milestone 3 or above) were also eligible to apply for one of ten competitive Community Abatement grants of $28 000 from the AGO to undertake community greenhouse actions. These projects will be completed in May 2007.

CCP participants continue to demonstrate that local government leads the way in taking action to address climate change. The 2006 Cities for Climate Protection Australia Measures Evaluation Report showed an increase in greenhouse gas abatement of 43 per cent over 2004-05.

The largest abatement gains were again reported in local government buildings, corporate and community waste management, community transport and residential projects.

In 2005-06 total reported abatement was 2 879 929 tonnes carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) from 166 CCP Australia participants. Actions targeting local governments’ own corporate operations contributed 665 166 tonnes of CO2e abatement and a further reduction of 2 214 763 tonnes of CO2e came from their communities.

Local governments invested over $27 million in corporate and community actions and committed more than $2 million in council staffing to implement these actions in 2005-06. Councils received more than $600 000 from Australian and state government agencies and other stakeholders to deliver abatement actions. At least $13.9 million was saved by councils and their communities through energy-efficiency measures.

In total, over 8.8 million tonnes of CO2e abatement has been reported since the start of the CCP Australia program in 1997. These results are equivalent to taking 2 million cars off the road for a year.

ICLEI’s Australia/New Zealand (ICLEI-A/NZ) office was established in 1999 and has achieved considerable growth since that time. There are now more than 50 staff members based in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand.

In 2006 ICLEI-A/NZ became the ICLEI Oceania Secretariat in recognition of its leading role in working with over 250 local authorities and building and maintaining unique long-term partnership arrangements. ICLEI Oceania is broadening its focus and developing partnerships with ICLEI offices, local authorities and agencies in the Asia-Pacific region to build on the leading approaches of Australian and New Zealand councils in sustainable development.

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