Dubbo, Australia Climate Protection Campaign

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Dubbo, Australia

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Type: Policy

Status: Adopted in 2000

Source File: http://www.dubbo.nsw.gov.au/public/content/default.asp?xcid=732

Description:

Since October 2000 Dubbo City Council (DCC) has been involved in the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP(tm)) Campaign, a global initiative designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Council operations and the community.

The Program is an international initiative to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from local government and the community. The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) administers the Program in Australia with support from the Commonwealth Government's Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO).

CCP(tm) is based on the achievement of five milestones, namely:

1. Analyse emissions and estimate potential emissions growth to 2010,
2. Set an emissions reduction goal,
3. Develop a Local Greenhouse Reduction Strategy,
4. Implement the Reduction Strategy,
5. Monitor and report on implementation.

DCC involvement and progress
Dubbo City Council was the first NSW regional Council to complete all 5 milestones in June 2004. Council is now a member of the CCP Plus program, continuing its commitment to reducing the effects of climate change.

The Milestone 5 process highlighted that Council has achieved an abatement of 504.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide during the re-inventory year of 2002/03 through the implementation of a number of Council focused energy efficient initiatives.

Some of the initiatives included downsizing the vehicle fleet, using LPG to fuel vehicles, installing variable speed drives on water pumps, installing timers on lights and equipment, and conducting an internal staff awareness campaign.

While Council has completed the program, internal processes have been put in place to allow continual monitoring of progress against energy reduction goals. These processes also serve to ensure the energy management issue is fixed on the Council agenda irrespective of involvement in external programs such as CCP(tm). Such processes include the development of Dubbo ALIVE – A Living Initiative for a Vibrant Environment. This document is Councils sustainability plan and focuses on the priority areas of Energy, Water, Waste and Salinity.

While the environmental benefits of fewer emissions are obvious, a reduction in greenhouse gases will also lead to substantial cost savings for Council and the community, as the level of emissions relates directly to the amount of energy and fuel consumed by the City.