Joining forces to tackle climate change

Yarra Council CEO Vijaya Vaidyanath, Councillors, sustainability officers and delegates from the Climate Council, Yarra Energy Foundation and Yarra Climate Action Now met for a round table discussion yesterday.

We’ve joined Australia’s largest network of local councils tackling climate action, becoming a member of the growing Cities Power Partnership.

The Cities Power Partnership program supports and promotes the efforts of councils all across Australia to take action on climate change.

Yarra has a long history of taking bold climate action. We were one of the first local governments to declare a climate emergency in 2017.

Our operations are powered by 100% renewable electricity thanks to our investment in solar and our involvement in the Melbourne Renewable Energy Project.

Key climate actions

  • We have greatly reduced energy use and greenhouse emissions by actions such as sustainable buildings, efficient streetlights, and electric vehicles in our fleet.
  • We continue to operate as a certified carbon neutral organisation – we were the second Australian council to take this step
  • We established and fund the external Yarra Energy Foundation. This foundation supports the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in our community.

Although these actions have been effective, there is always more we can do. We are currently developing a Climate Emergency Plan to help our community take climate action together and help contribute to the global climate journey.

We hope that through the Cities Power Partnership we will learn from and collaborate with the other councils doing incredible and exciting work in this space.

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