Accelerating Now!

23-05-07

Accelerating Now! was held from 2-5 May 2007, with approximately 140 local governments from Australia and New Zealand in attendance. The purpose of the Conference was to learn from each other’s experiences, and to ‘accelerate’ the sustainability agenda at the local government level. Mayors and councilors from across New Zealand, for instance, returned from Accelerating Now! reinvigorated about the need for serious action. Each of the councils who attended is already taking action on key issues such as public transport, waste reduction and the promotion of green and sustainable buildings. Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbarb said, however, that the unanimous message was that councils had to take more action. “Carbon pricing is imminent like it or not, and once there is a price on carbon the need for all of us to move quickly and effectively will sharply increase,” he said. Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey said political leadership was absolutely critical. “Those of us in local government have to show leadership, to practice what we preach, so we do not ask more of our communities that we are prepared to do ourselves,” he said. Three new initiatives were launched at Accelerating Now!; these were the Australasian Mayors Council for Climate Protection, Carbon Neutral Communities, and the CCP Adaptation Initiative. The Australasian Mayors Council for Climate Protection (AMCCP) has been established to build the capacity of the local government sector to undertake a non-partisan approach to action on climate protection and advocacy. The AMCCP will leverage the results of the local governments active on mitigation and adaptation climate strategies, and provide a voice to influence the broader policy environment. Further, the AMCCP will develop an Australasian agenda that will have a significant impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improve the quality of life for local communities and provide for economically sound investments. Carbon Neutral Communities reflects the increasing number of CCP participants that are moving to adopt a carbon neutral agenda. Their work will be supported by the AMCCP, as they collaborate on reducing energy consumption, increasing the use of renewable energy and securing offsets for remaining emissions across their communities. Through Carbon Neutral Communities, local councils will partner with every sector to achieve this goal, be it local businesses, community organizations, schools, hospitals, universities, shoppers and householders, while leading by example. The CCP Adaptation Initiative is a new ICLEI program launched at the Conference, aimed at improving the capability of local government to understand and manage the impacts of climate change in their operations, and help their communities adapt to the consequences of such impacts. For more information on these new programs, please visit www.iclei.org/anz.