Melbourne

The council has set a target of zero net emissions by 2020, outlined in a strategy document that details how the City of Melbourne will work in partnership with others to achieve this bold target.The strategy incorporates three core strategies and three initiatives that tie the core strategies together.

The three core strategies are improved building design to achieve a 50 per cent reduction in energy use; increased uptake of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies; and offsetting emissions through planting trees that sequester carbon from the atmosphere.

The three initiatives that tie the strategies together are a green productivity profile, marketing Melbourne as a place for knowledge-based industries with high worker productivity and quality lifestyle; a carbon trading market supporting an emissions reduction program; and a Centre for Greenhouse Expertise and Technology providing the vital support services necessary to facilitate change, market Melbourne and its services.

The strategy is an extension of the council’s Cities for Climate Protection and Greenhouse Challenge commitments, and also forms the basis of a new partnership with the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation’s (APEC) Expert Group on New and Renewable Energy Technologies. APEC’s Expert Group has endorsed the strategy and is supporting the development of the strategy into a template that can be applied to cities in other APEC economies.

Other key elements of the strategy include:

- Construction of privately financed, world-class green buildings; - Active marketing of a ‘green productivity’ profile, promoting Melbourne as a location for knowledge-based industries with high worker productivity and quality lifestyle, based on a local culture committed to the principles of sustainability, - A voluntary carbon trading market, to allow businesses flexibility in their approach to emissions management, while preparing Melbourne for international carbon trading; - Progressive strengthening of regulations on energy performance requirements for buildings; - A ‘green supply chain’ to the City of Melbourne with progressively stronger standards; - Stimulating demand for renewable and efficient energy; - A pilot sequestration investment by the city in blue mallee eucalypts as feedstock for renewable power generation; and, - Access for businesses to investment in carbon sequestration projects, linked to the emissions market, that deliver a sound financial return.

An underlying theme of the strategy is looking at the need to address our environmental impact as a positive, turning what seems a serious threat to Melbourne’s economy and way of life into an opportunity for economic growth, environmental improvements and social cohesion – a triple bottom-line business equation.

Brisbane

In 1999, Brisbane City Council (BCC) set a goal to reduce emissions from its own operations by 30 per cent by 2010. By June 2005, a reduction of 26 per cent had been achieved so in September 2006, the reduction target was increased to 50 per cent by 2010.

BCC has a Greenhouse Action Plan 2006 – 2010, which sets out the actions BCC will pursue to reduce its energy consumption and associated greenhouse emissions.

BCC has also spent the past year developing a response to the effects of climate change, which has resulted in its Plan for Action on Climate Change and Energy.

This plan is focused on making deep cuts in Brisbane’s greenhouse emissions, to be achieved by continuing to avoid actions that produce or increase greenhouse gas emissions in the first place; and where greenhouse emissions cannot be avoided or abated, they will be offset through initiatives such as tree planting.

The plan was developed by the Climate Change and Energy Taskforce established in August 2006. The final report from the taskforce was presented to the BCC in March 2007, and the BCC met in April to debate the recommendations. The majority of recommendations in the report were adopted by the BCC and now form the basis of the Plan for Action on Climate Change and Energy.

BCC is currently implementing some of the recommendations and developing implementation plans for the more complex actions.

In total, the plan sets out 31 actions in eight key areas – leadership and partnering; decision-making; communication and education; strategic and land use planning; sustainable transport; preparedness for change, emergencies and surprises; diversification and conservation of natural resources; and research.

Key actions in these eight areas include:

- Greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 50 per cent of 2006 levels by 2026; - Developing partnerships with the Queensland and Commonwealth Governments to achieve policy changes; - Establishing an agent for State Government leadership on climate change; - Creating a state roundtable for sustainability; - Reducing the carbon intensity of electricity generation; - Strengthening building code requirements for energy efficiency and sustainability; - Capturing associated economic development opportunities by attracting and retaining sustainable industries (including renewable energy generation); and - Investing in sustainable energy alternatives for BCC’s own operations.

Melbourne’s Zero Net Emissions by 2020 can be accessed at www.melbourne.vic.gov.au while Brisbane’s Plan for Action on Climate Change and Energy can be downloaded from www.brisbane.qld.gov.au