This article originally appeared in the Byron Shire Echo here.
Byron Shire Council has joined 34 other councils taking the pledge to tackle climate change through local solutions. The Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership program aims to transform Australia’s energy future, with hundreds of towns and cities, through councils, becoming local leaders and champions.
‘We have 35 councils, who together represent more than three million Australians living in hundreds of towns and cities of all shapes and sizes across the country,’ said Professor Tim Flannery, Climate Council chief councillor.
Flannery has stated that transforming the way cities use and generate energy alone has the potential to deliver 70 per cent of the total emissions reductions needed.
Byron Shire is aiming to be Australia’s first zero-emissions community over the next ten years. By widening its low-carbon strategy to include the whole community rather than just Council’s own operations, they are talking with the agricultural, building, energy, waste, and transport industries to support their efforts to reduce reliance on coal-fired energy.
Mayor Simon Richardson said, ‘In joining Cities Power Partnership we look forward to learning and implementing new technology to build upon our solar power initiatives, virtual net metering, building retrofits, electric vehicles, waste management and water recycling.’
The Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership is now calling on all councils across Australia to take the pledge.
View Byron Shire Council’s CPP page here.
