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CCP-NZ

OCTOBER–NOVEMBER 2008

Communities for Climate Protection^® - New Zealand (CCP^®-NZ): A New Zealand Government initiative delivered by ICLEI Oceania. This Programme is part of ICLEI’s international Cities for Climate Protection Campaign. Visit the CCP-NZ website for more information about the Programme.

CCP-NZ PROGRAMME NEWS

Participation and milestone achievements

The 34 council participants in CCP-NZ represent over 83% of New Zealand’s population.

CCP-NZ welcomes Western Bay of Plenty District Council as the 34th participant in the Programme.

Framing Carbon Neutrality

ICLEI Oceania’s newly published Carbon Neutrality Framework for Local Government is being distributed to all CCP-NZ Councils.

We thank all councils that sent valuable feedback on the original discussion paper, Framing Carbon Neutrality.

Many local governments, state governments and even national governments have adopted goals of carbon neutrality and are now in the process of defining what is meant by the concept.

Carbon Neutrality has been advocated by a large number of governments and private sector organisations in recent years.

However, currently no single independent global standard for it exists that can be referred to in support of a claim of neutrality.

ICLEI Oceania is pleased to produce this guide to carbon neutrality for the Australasian Mayors Council for Climate Protection.

To request a copy of the Local Government Carbon Neutrality Framework please contact the CCP-NZ Programme Office.

CCP-NZ COUNCILS IN ACTION

Featured council initiative: Leaps and bounds for Waitakere City

: The Waitakere Aquatic Centre

Waitakere City is home to a beautiful area that boasts native plants, regional parks, reserves, ranges, mountains and coastal regions. The council is very aware of its local natural beauty and is taking big steps to preserve it.

A participant in CCP-NZ since July 2004, the council has worked diligently to reduce its local and global footprint by examining emissions, establishing reduction goals, creating Local Action Plans for council and community, and then implementing and quantifying those actions.

Waitakere City Council was the first council in the CCP-NZ Programme to complete Milestone 4, having submitted an impressive list of projects undertaken since they joined CCP-NZ. An ICLEI Oceania-sponsored intern helped track emission reduction data to demonstrate the significant abatements council is making.

The council’s measures include the installation of additional light switches at its vehicle testing station, solar light tiles on walk and cycle ways, and daylight sensors in the leisure centre and library, which avoid unnecessary electricity use. A substantial reduction of emissions was achieved by replacing 42 council vehicles with more fuel efficient ones.

Other actions taken include adding a photovoltaic (PV) system on the Massey Library and six 1 kW PV systems on council’s civil defence building. Large reductions resulted from upgrading the cemetery facilities and by changing the operation of the heating system in the aquatic centre.

: Aquatic Centre improved heat generation system

: Michelle Dawson, Corporate Sustainability Manager at Waitakere City Council, with new fuel efficient council fleet vehicles

Waitakere City Council has also been active in supporting emission reduction projects within its community. These include support for solar water heating systems, an eco-advisor and energy efficiency retrofits of residents’ houses.

The council also hosted a seminar on street lighting technologies and arranged a bus tour of the new street light trial installations.

A huge congratulations and applause for great work to Waitakere City Council. It is blazing a strong path towards attaining the energy reduction target goal it set, while showing a great example of the possibilities that exist for emission reductions. Well done!

Council action updates

South Waikato District Council has a few exciting projects underway.

In early October, 24 m² of solar thermal panels were installed on the roof of the Tokoroa swimming pool, working as a pre-heater to the existing showers’ hot water system.

Council also undertook a study on the viability of installing solar panels at the Putaruru swimming pool.

Additionally, the Tokoroa wastewater treatment plant is about to have its first energy audit. Council hopes to apply pinpointed energy saving options to other wastewater facilities that it operates.

Porirua City Council teamed up with a number of agencies for ‘Makeover Week’, offering a selection of free resilient community activities such as home energy checks, waste audits, workshops on worm farms, nappy hire kit workshops and recycled craft workshops and prizes.

Council also donated over 200 veggie plants and 50 fruit trees to residents, getting people on the move to eating healthily, growing their own food, reducing carbon mileage and improving their resilience to economic downturns.

North Shore District Council has been busy completing road improvements, which include a new transit lane for better public transportation, an off-road cycle lane to promote active transportation, and new pedestrian crossings for the safety of those using the heel-toe express.

NEW ZEALAND CLIMATE NEWS

Another successful dumping of electronics!

: Photo: Jeremy Quinn

Guidance for voluntary corporate greenhouse gas reporting

The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) has released the 2007 version of its guidance document on voluntary corporate greenhouse gas reporting, which includes revised emission factors for the year.

These factors are also being used in the New Zealand Government’s Carbon Neutral Public Service programme.

A copy of the document is available from the MfE website.

Climate Day of Action 2008

6 December 2008 marks the Global Day of Action on climate change. Last year’s Global Day of Action saw events happening around the country, bringing awareness to help people reduce emissions and take part in fighting climate change.

This year’s Global Day of Action is scheduled to take place during the COP14 talks on climate protection in Poland.

See the Global Climate Campaign website for world events and links to New Zealand initiatives.

Carbon credits

The New Zealand Government is developing regulations to specify what compliance carbon credits will be accepted in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). This will ensure that any overseas credits purchased and those sold are clearly defined and have been appropriately ‘greened’.

While most councils will only be trading in the voluntary carbon market, these regulations may help councils define the types of emissions reduction projects they should be considering.

The regulations are expected to be issued in June 2009 after public submissions have been received.

For more information see the New Zealand Government’s official website, Beehive.

Scenarios for Long Term Council Community Plan discussions

Councils exploring public consultation options for their Long Term Council Community Plan (LTCCP) may like to review the future scenarios developed to help people envisage what their world may look like.

It’s a good exercise to build what’s needed now, for what may happen then!

The following links are to scenarios that can be considered:

The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) guidance document on how councils can incorporate climate change into their LTCCP is now available on the MfE website.

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