Pledges to reduce emissions and move to clean energy – Wollongong

Wollongong City Council has committed to five pledges under the Australian initiative, Cities Power Partnership.

These pledges show Council is committing action and resources to achieve renewable energy, sustainable transport, energy efficiency and to influence business, state agencies and residents in the city.

Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said Council has recently declared a climate emergency and we are part of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.

“Our membership of this partnership is one component of our broad range of actions to mitigate the risk of a changing climate,” Cr Bradbery said.

“At Council we have already installed solar panels on seven buildings and facilities. These solar panels generate more than 476, 700 kWh each year and help to reduce the production of 411 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. On top of that we also have an energy and water efficient Administration Building, now rated 6 Star Green Star rating, the only 32-year-old building to hold a rating.

“Separate to this, but also focused on reducing emissions, we’ve rolled out a Food Organics Garden Organics or FOGO trial in three suburbs to shape our roll out of this service eventually city-wide and have started delivery of our Urban Greening Strategy.

Council is also in the process of preparing a Climate Change Mitigation Action Plan under our Global Covenant of Mayors commitment, delivery of which will support these five pledges. We will report on progress in these areas every six months, through the CPP reporting framework.”

The Cities Power Partnership is a national program administered by the Climate Council. The program aims to connect local governments to share knowledge, successes and provide support in working towards emissions reductions and the transition to clean energy.

The pledges Council has committed to are:

Pledge

Theme

Install renewable energy systems on Council buildings

Renewable energy

Implement landfill gas methane flaring or capture for electricity generation.

Renewable energy

Encourage sustainable transport use such as public transport, walking and cycling through Council transport planning and design.

Sustainable transport

Set city-level renewable energy or emissions reduction targets.

Work Together and Influence

Adopt best practice energy efficiency measures across Council buildings, and support community facilities to adopt these measures.

Energy Efficiency

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