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Cities for Climate Protection® (CCP®) Australia: implementing greenhouse action through a collaboration between the Australian Government and ICLEI Oceania. CCP is an international ICLEI campaign that motivates and empowers local governments worldwide to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
There are currently 238 councils taking part in CCP Australia, representing over 84% of the population.
Congratulations to the following councils for their milestone achievements in March and April: - Adelaide Hills Council, SA – Milestone 1
- Shire of Augusta-Margaret River, WA, Launceston City Council, Tas, and Kempsey Shire Council, NSW – Milestone 1 and 2 (corporate and community)
- Murrindindi Shire Council, Vic – Milestone 2 (corporate and community)
- Holroyd City Council, NSW – Milestone 5
- Warringah Council, NSW – Milestone 5
- Rockdale City Council, NSW – Planning and Review
 - Photo by (nz)dave
ICLEI Oceania is delivering a series of one-day state forums across Australia to address priority issues relating to local governments’ role in mitigating and adapting to climate change. The forums will include presentations, panel discussions, workshop sessions and case studies.
A summary of the successful and well-attended Queensland State Forum, held on 6 April, is included in this issue of the Bulletin, while a summary of the forum held in Western Australia on 23 April will be included in the next issue.
The forums provide council officers, managers, senior managers and elected members the opportunity to focus on real actions and solutions to the issues they are facing, and offer a great networking opportunity.
All forums are free for ICLEI members and CCP councils.
For more information or to register see the ICLEI Oceania events webpages.
New South Wales state forum: Climate mitigation in a changing context: what role for local government?
Friday 7 May, Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith
This forum will address the implications of new climate science, national policies and community expectations for local government mitigation efforts, as well as best practice energy and emissions data management.
South Australian state forum
Friday 22 May, West Torrens Auditorium
This forum will provide an opportunity to consider councils’ role in developing strategies and actions that might be implemented to affect wider change in the community, and the community data required to support this role. Participants will also learn about best practice data management and will have the opportunity to workshop barriers and solutions to embed information management systems across council.
Victorian state forum
Thursday 28 May, location TBC
This forum will celebrate the achievements of the rural Victorian councils that have participated in the CCP Victoria program over the past seven years. The Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change, the Hon. Gavin Jennings, will award councils for their recent achievements in tackling the challenges of climate change. Participants will also hear from their local government peers about best practice examples in local economic development, renewable energy and community engagement. Site visits to a solar energy test facility and a wind turbine manufacturer are being finalised.
The CCP Queensland state forum: Local governments, the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme and the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) was hosted by Brisbane City Council on 6 April 2009.
The forum provided elected members, managers and council officers an opportunity to increase their understanding of the (National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting) NGER Act, the proposed CPRS and resultant implications for the local government sector.
Speakers included representatives from federal, state and local government, and specialist consultants, working on climate change mitigation policy and policy responses. The attendance of the Department of Climate Change enabled participants to receive direct responses to complex policy questions and concerns, and to express their views on the draft CPRS legislation.
Participants also heard about the Carbon Neutral Communities research project and upcoming greenhouse gas mitigation and CPRS work being carried out by the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ).
Cr Krista Adams, Member for Wishart (Environment, Parks and Sustainability Committee), formally opened the event.
Attendees reported a high level of satisfaction with the content presented, event format and, in particular, the opportunity to have their questions answered. The full-capacity attendance demonstrated the importance of this issue to councils.
ICLEI Oceania would like to thank the speakers for giving their time on the day. Presentations are available to download from the forum summary webpage.
For further information, please contact the CCP Queensland State Manager, Luke Reade.
 - Photo by Brent Danley
ICLEI Oceania is currently developing a new best-practice protocol for the preparation of greenhouse gas emissions inventories by local governments in Australia. The new protocol is the Australian Supplement to ICLEI’s recently released International Local Government GHG Emissions Analysis Protocol.
The protocol will provide updated guidance for councils on how to prepare corporate and community inventories – including which emission sources to include, which calculation methodologies to use, and how to report on emissions. It will also assist councils in aligning with the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System (NGERS).
A draft of the new protocol is expected in May 2009, with the final version to be released in June 2009. An information sheet on the new protocol can be downloaded from the Briefs to Members webpage.
Three eastern Sydney councils are demonstrating the benefits of a partnership approach for implementing community education projects.
Visit the Outstanding Council Initiative page on the CCP Australia website to read the full story about the latest winner.
If you think your council has implemented an innovative greenhouse initiative or project, or has perhaps created an innovative process for its implementation, you can complete the Case Study and Outstanding Initiative nomination form and return it to your CCP State or Territory Manager.
 - The recovery shop has everything from old records to second-hand fridges, televisions and beds
Wodonga Council’s Sort and Save recycling centre has been doing brisk business since opening in November. Council and Sustainability Victoria combined resources to build the $480,000 facility in Wodonga, which included $75,000 of funds from Sustainability Victoria.
Wodonga Council’s manager civic services, Mark Verbaken, said the aim of the facility was to divert waste away from landfill by selling materials to the public in the shop, and dismantling items that previously couldn't go into a designated recycling area because they were made up of different materials.
“This is truly a community project, as we have joined with Kalianna Enterprises, whose staff will be doing the dismantling of goods, Corrections Victoria, with community workers providing labour, and the shop operators, The Recovery GAME,” he said.
The project has social, environmental and economical benefits by reducing waste being deposited into landfill, providing a workplace for the long-term unemployed, providing cheap second-hand goods for those less able to purchase them, and reducing the volumes of water and energy used to produce alternate new articles.
Mr Verbaken said staff would interact with customers as they were unloading their materials, ensuring the community’s knowledge of effective waste management was broadened. Materials recovered can include general household bric-a-brac, furniture, sporting goods, hand tools, pushbikes, art works and gardening tools.
Chief Executive Officer of Sustainability Victoria, Anita Roper, commended the organisation and its partners on the initiative.
‘This project reflects the values we have at Sustainability Victoria, which is to support programs that foster sustainable resource use and have economic and social benefits for the community. Projects like these not only have a positive outcome for our environment but they also build and improve opportunities in the local community by creating local employment,’ she said.
 - Shows the result of a spot audit on staff computers. Courtesy of the City of Subiaco.
In an effort to reduce wasted monitor energy use the City of Subiaco in Western Australia has been taking charge on staff behaviour change. Last month it rolled out a campaign to encourage staff to switch off office equipment at the end of the day.
So how did they do it?
Borrowing from the black balloon campaign which measures greenhouse gas emissions in 50 gram balloons, Melanie Norman, Coordinator of Environmental Projects, sent out an educational article in Council’s Staff Information Bulletin that explained each computer monitor left on overnight contributes nearly 1200 black balloons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every year. That’s three black balloons a day for each monitor.
A month later Melanie and her team conducted a spot check across three different locations. Staff who remembered to switch off their computers were rewarded with a chocolate frog, whereas staff who forgot received a black balloon tied to their chair. This highly visual campaign got a lot of staff talking the next day when they arrived at work, with those receiving the chocolate obviously a lot happier!
 - Shows the results of the re-audit and an improved rate of monitor switch off. Courtesy of the City of Subiaco
Melanie followed this up by emailing the results to the affected departments. The leading unit had 88% of staff receiving chocolate frogs compared to 42% at the worst. Communicating the results was an important way to ensure these units have a benchmark to work towards in the future.
This campaign has already demonstrated great results with a second round of spot checks showing two out of three units have made a marked improvement in their rate of monitor switch off.
For more information on this initiative, contact Melanie Norman at the City of Subiaco, Ph: +61 (0)8 9387 0953.
The CCP Leader teleconference series commenced in March 2009, with CCP Leader councils invited to participate in two teleconferences, one on Climate Change Adaptation and the other on Energy Data Management.
The Adaptation Teleconference series began with an introduction to adaptation concepts, which included an overview of the Local Government Climate Change Adaptation Toolkit, and ICLEI Oceania’s work-in-progress, the Adaptive and Resilient Communities (ARC) program. Seven CCP Leader councils – Bunbury, Coffs Harbour, Holroyd, Greater Bendigo, Kogarah, Melville and Perth – were involved in the introductory teleconference.
Over the next few months, ICLEI Oceania will be hosting three further teleconferences in the Climate Change Adaptation series. These will use the Local Government Climate Change Adaptation Toolkit as a guide for developing a climate change adaptation strategy. Participating CCP Leader councils will learn the theory and practice of adaptation, and also hear from councils that have developed adaptation strategies.
The first Data Management teleconference introduced participants to data management concepts, the lessons learnt from the Energy and Emissions Information Management Project, and the recently released Needs Analysis Workbook. The six CCP Leader councils who participated – Baw Baw, Bunbury, Coffs Harbour, Hornsby, Penrith, and Sunshine Coast – had the opportunity to share their lessons and experiences with data management.
The next teleconference in the Data Management teleconference series will explore some of different methods councils have used to successfully incorporate environmental data into their existing finance software, drawing on guest speakers.
Profiles of CCP Leader councils can be viewed on the Australian Mayors Council for Climate Protection climate mayors website.
For information about the CCP Leader program, the CCP Leader teleconference series or to register interest in upcoming CCP Leader teleconferences, please contact Brett McDonald, CCP Leader Coordinator, Ph: +61 (0)3 9660 2247.
Are you interested in profiling your council’s best practice greenhouse strategies and initiatives? Use our template to create a case study to submit to your CCP State or Territory Manager. Once reviewed, these materials will be profiled in the ICLEI Oceania Bulletin.
The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Act 2007, which came into effect on 1 July 2008, requires large energy users, energy producers and greenhouse gas emitters to report their energy and emissions data to the Australian Government.
A new briefing paper from ICLEI Oceania is designed to assist local governments determine whether they currently have reporting obligations under the NGER Act, and how participation requirements might change following the introduction of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS).
The briefing paper can be downloaded from Briefs to Members webpage.
Looking around the office there are lots of little ways that you can save energy and cut costs. One of the main opportunities is office and IT equipment.
ICLEI Oceania has developed an Energy Saving Fact Sheet on IT and office equipment that highlights six ways you can reduce your energy use. - Switch off when not in use. Switching off monitors, computer and printers that are not in use avoids wasted energy. It also reduces heat produced by equipment, which in turn cuts cooling costs.
- Buy energy efficient products. Buying electronic equipment that is energy efficient and features the latest energy saving options will save you in the long term.
- Enable energy saving modes. Most computers, laptops and monitors have a built-in 'sleep' mode that enables the device to enter a low power state after a period of inactivity.
- Consolidate printers and imaging equipment. Consolidating your printer fleet into fewer units can result in significant reductions in energy and greenhouse gas emissions. It also has the added benefit of minimising resources use while saving you money on maintenance and consumables such as toner.
- Replace computers with thin clients or laptops. Exploring alternative systems can help you significantly reduce energy use.
- Improve server efficiency. Virtualising your servers, introducing blade technology and improving server room cooling efficiency can cut electricity costs.
Download the full Energy Saving Fact Sheet [PDF, 120 KB] for more tips on how to reduce building energy use. If you would like printed copies (maximum five per council), contact Amelia Chapman, Sustainable Purchasing Project Manager, Ph: +61 (0)3 9660 2256.
 - Photo by Adam J Kane. Courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons
Assessing the relative merits of newer street lighting technologies can be complicated when faced with vigorous claims from overseas manufacturers and case studies.
ICLEI Oceania works with street lighting expert, Ironbark Sustainability, to answer council's street lighting questions via a free technical Q&A service.
In a move to further clarify technology-related questions, Ironbark Sustainability has published a new paper, LED lighting – saint or sinner for Australian and New Zealand street lighting? [PDF, 250 KB]
The paper outlines the performance of LED lamp technology against Australian and New Zealand standards and environmental conditions, which are generally quite different to the northern hemisphere where LEDs are more widely used. It also compares LEDs to other street lighting technologies in terms of energy savings. The paper concludes that LEDs are not the most suitable choice for the southern hemisphere.
For more information about the complex world of street lighting see the Sustainable Public Lighting Toolbox.
 - The ICLEI/SLF team in the Future Spark Challenge for Earth Hour in 2009
ICLEI Oceania staff joined forces with volunteers from the Sustainable Living Foundation (SLF) to generate clean energy for the Melbourne Earth Hour concert.
Through the Future Spark Team Challenge the ICLEI Oceania/SLF team generated 422 watt-hours of energy – enough to power a computer for one hour – by riding bikes on a trailer hooked up to custom-made electricity generators.
 - Adelaide skyline by Luke Tscharke. Courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons
The Australian Government has announced $1.2 million in funding for the Adelaide Solar Cities Project. The funding will go towards the installation of solar panels at the Detroit Diesel building at the Keylink Industrial Estate, Rundle Lantern and the Adelaide Central Market.
Meanwhile, the consortium leading the Perth Solar Cities Project is looking for proposals of photovoltaic solar projects above 30kWp on iconic or highly visible buildings to nominate to the steering committee.
Projects should include elements of energy efficiency, and demand management as well as solar. More information and EOI forms are available from Sunpower Corp, one of the businesses in the consortium. Contact Anwar Mohammed, Strategic Account Manager, SunPower, Ph: +61 (0)8 9477 5888.
Use the links below to email CCP project staff Adaptation Initiative
Sustainable Public Lighting (including the free technical Q&A service)
Sustainable Purchasing (including Switch IT Over project)
Sustainable Transport
Energy and Emissions Information Management
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