Councils taking action on climate change

Local councils and communities are taking action on climate change in Australia according to a nationwide report released recently.

The Australian Local Government Climate Review 2018 provides an assessment of the actions councils are undertaking to tackle climate change, along with the barriers and challenges they face.

The report found that, nationally, 50 per cent of councils that responded to the review provide public information on climate change. Nineteen per cent of councils provide public corporate emissions targets, and 81 per cent of the responding councils either had, or intended to have, a corporate emissions target.

Seven per cent of the councils that took part in the review provide public targets to reduce their community-wide emissions, however the review found that community emissions reduction targets and actions are not well resourced or monitored.

Councils reported that a lack of funding and resourcing are the most significant barriers to reducing emissions in both corporate and community efforts. In its findings, the report states that a large number of councils have no budget officially allocated to reduce emissions, and calls for state and federal support to deliver effective strategies to reduce community emissions.

The report was produced by Beyond Zero Emissions, ICLEI Oceania, and council consultancy Ironbark Sustainability and is available in full at this link.