The Yarra City Council is officially endorsing its first emergency climate plan outlining its four year strategy to create a climate adapted city.
Since late 2019, the council has been working alongside the community to draft an action plan, setting up ten targets and 20 actions to cut carbon emissions and build up climate resilience in the municipality.
This marks a huge investment in climate preparedness as a way to build back the community in the wake of the pandemic.
The final draft is set to go up on the council website later in the week. Stay tuned for any updates here.
Local councils turning to power purchase agreements
When it comes to achieving net zero goals, Australian local councils are turning to power purchase agreements (PPA) to reach 100 per cent renewable energy.
City of Sydney, City of Adelaide and the City of Newcastle all entered PPAs in the past six months with Flow Power.
Hawkesbury Shire Council reached a 10 year contract in just under six weeks, negotiated by the Renewable Energy Hub, which is notable given that PPA agreements can take anywhere from 18 months to three years to finalise.
RE Hub director Jackie McKeon is confident that with more retailers entering the market and lowered energy prices, it’s a good time to secure a fair deal on renewable power.
Melbourne invests in recycling
The city of Melbourne is investing $1 million into waste and recycling hubs intended to cut down on waste and get rid of bins in city laneways.
By creating these hubs, the city can eliminate 110 commercial waste bins, reducing the number of trips for waste trucks and getting rid of pollution, congestion and foul smells in laneways.
In addition to waste hubs, Melbourne is installing 51 solar powered recycling bins that use gentle compaction to create maximise bin space and send alerts once it’s full.
“Both these initiatives will support our move towards a circular economy where we maximise reuse, recycling and recovery, and minimise waste to landfill,” City of Melbourne Environment portfolio chair CR Cathy Oke said.