To achieve effective climate change action, everyone needs to play a part. We are committed to taking the lead and supporting the community to reduce our contribution to climate change.

On 7 October 2019, Banyule Council declared a climate emergency at its Council Meeting and called on all levels of government, including local councils, to take urgent action and show leadership to combat climate change.

The declaration builds on the climate action resolution passed in December 2018, where Council established a target of carbon neutrality by 2028 and committed a $5 million Climate Action Package to fund related initiatives.

As a result, we have focused on developing a clear framework for achieving carbon neutrality, for our own internal operations and operations across Banyule.

We have developed two draft plans to help us reach our goals:

• The Banyule Corporate Emissions Reduction Plan

to reach our goal of carbon neutral operations by 2028, this plan concentrates on emission sources within our control.

• Community Emissions Reduction Plan

this plan supports the community through incentives, advocacy and education to work towards a carbon neutral municipality.

We spoke to internal departments and external stakeholders and researched what emissions our services generate. We then developed priority actions to be delivered over the next four years (2020 – 2023). This work will ensure we are in a strong position to achieve our carbon neutrality target by 2028.

The draft plan is guided by:

• The energy hierarchy, which encourages a focus on energy reduction, energy efficiency and renewable energy.
• A staged approach to electrification of our buildings and vehicle fleet. Upgrading from gas and other fossil fuels to electricity sourced from renewables.
• The National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS), to ensure a best practice approach to carbon management.

Our key themes are:

1. Establishing a climate action culture by supporting staff to undertake climate action within their own roles;
2. Reducing energy use in our buildings by upgrading insulation levels, air conditioning systems and appliances, as well as installing solar hot water systems;
3. Replacing all street lighting with energy efficient LEDs;
4. Commencing the replacement of light and heavy fleet vehicles with electric vehicles;
5. The trial of pool blankets and heat pumps to work towards 100% electric leisure centers;
6. Pursuing actions to support the renewable energy sector, with the purchase of green power through Power Purchasing Agreements (PPAs) and the roll out of solar power;
7. Developing actions for new emissions sources (such as catering and paper consumption) that are required under the NCOS;
8. Working with our suppliers and contractors to incentivise and reward improved environmental performance; and
9. A focus on continual improvement and transparency through the use of a monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework.