On World Environment Day, Thursday 5 June, ICLEI Oceania joined more than 280 councils across Australia and New Zealand in celebrating the achievements and ongoing work of Local Government in the fight against climate change.
“World Environment Day is a fitting time to recognise the work achieved by Local Government in tackling pressing environmental issues,” said Wayne Wescott, ICLEI Oceania’s Chief Executive Officer. “However, it also provides a timely wake up call for us to reflect on whether we are taking bold enough action on climate change and water conservation to avert dangerous scenarios.”
Thanks to the hard work of ICLEI members and program participants across Australia and New Zealand, Local Government is now helping to set the agenda on reducing emissions and adapting to climate change, as well as showing practical action on water and putting into place long term triple bottom line approaches to sustainability.
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is a not for profit membership association of Local Governments that have made a unique commitment to environmental improvement and sustainable development.
With an international network of over 800 councils, ICLEI has demonstrated that Local Government has a significant role to play in meeting the challenges presented by climate change.
ICLEI Oceania, the organisation’s regional office, was established in 1999 and continues to deliver successful programs to help Local Government reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve water resource management and apply sustainability principles to the planning and delivery of community services.
At a time when climate change and broader sustainability issues are major concerns for communities and all spheres of government, ICLEI offers well tested frameworks for sustainable action.
ICLEI’s international Cities for Climate Protection® (CCP®) campaign is recognised worldwide as the leading Local Government program addressing climate change. After a decade of local greenhouse initiatives through CCP Australia, ICLEI Oceania is now offering councils the opportunity to accelerate their action by becoming a CCP Partner or CCP Leader.
CCP Partners will be undertaking actions to progress through the program framework to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions while CCP Leaders are a new group of Local Governments taking bold, innovative steps in addressing climate change issues.
Meanwhile, adaptation is coming to be seen as an essential part of a council’s climate change strategy. The new CCP Adaptation Initiative developed over the last 12 months has built on the CCP program and the Australian Government’s risk management framework, Climate Change Impacts and Risk Management.
This new initiative will strengthen the capability of Local Government to identify, assess and prioritise risks and opportunities related to climate change and deal with the accompanying complexity and uncertainty, while establishing a network alliance of councils and engaging their communities.
Sustainable management of our precious and limited water supplies is a particular priority in Australia. ICLEI Oceania’s Water Campaign™, with 118 Australian council participants, is the largest Local Government water program in the world. Now available from the program web site at www.iclei.org/oceania/water, the Water Campaign™ Actions Profile 2008 is a new publication detailing the tangible contributions that Local Government participants are making to sustainable water resource management.
ICLEI Oceania has also announced an exciting development in its sustainability programs.
ICLEI Sustainability Services and the Centre for Public Agency Sustainability Reporting are merging to become Integrated Sustainability Services. Integrated Sustainability Services will draw on the strengths, resources and skills of its precursors to create improved programs and services to meet council and government agency sustainability needs.
While commending the achievements of its members and program participants, ICLEI Oceania recognises that the threat of climate change still requires much more action.
ICLEI will continue to spread its message internationally as it plays a direct role in the next two Conferences of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in Poland (COP14, 2008) and Denmark (COP15, 2009).
The organisation will encourage participants to consider the importance of investing in cities globally over the next decade in order to buy time for the extensive re-investment needed for global energy systems.
*Copy supplied by ICLEI Oceania
