Media Release
4
December 2009
Turn Up Action to Turn Down Emissions
Independent research has supported the strong emphasis that capital cities have placed on
short-term actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A briefing paper prepared by the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) on behalf of the
Council of Capital City Lord Mayors (CCCLM) ahead of the UN Conference on Climate
Change in Copenhagen confirms cities are crucial to achieving sizeable carbon emissions
abatement over the next decade.
The analysis by ISF, part of the University of Technology Sydney, supported the CCCLM
adopting the simple principle of reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions from within its
boundaries each year from 2010; and in urging the Federal Government to adopt this
principle for Australia as a whole.
It says in reversing emissions growth in the short-term, cities can act as a catalyst for long-
term measures and planning.
The eight capital cities making up CCCLM have committed to slashing greenhouse gas
emissions, in collaboration with other parties, by a collective 57 million tonnes a year by
2020 through a suite of actions.
This level of abatement is equal to a 41 per cent reduction on projected pollution figures if no
action is taken nationally.
City of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore MP, the Chair of CCCLM, said the ISF analysis
added to the argument for Federal Government engagement with cities for actionson
stemming global warming.
“The capital cities have the runs on the board in reducing greenhouse gas emissions – but
we have to do a lot more,” Ms Moore said.
“Setting ambitious emissions abatement targets for 2020 and 2030 is not enough. Our first
priority should be to stop emissions rising and start reducing them, not in 2020 but in 2010.
Partnerships with the Federal Government and the community are necessary to achieve
such outcomes.”
Capital cities are proposing the Commonwealth Government help them reduce emissions
more effectively in the short and long-term, by:
1.
Adopting tough annual national emissions targets;
2.
Allowing voluntary actions to contribute to reducing emissions targets under the
Federal Government’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme;
3.
Supporting aggressive energy efficiency measures;
4.
Banning new carbon intensive power stations.
Clover Moore MP, and the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle have been invited to be
Australia’s delegates at the Copenhagen-based Climate Summit for Mayors organised by
the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the international Local Governments for
Sustainability (ICLEI).
“We will be advocating strongly in Copenhagen for decisive action by world leaders,” Ms
Moore added.
The short-term actions cities will focus on, in collaboration with other parties, are drawn from:
1.
Residential and commercial building efficiency retrofits
2.
District combined cooling heat and power (CCHP)
3.
Waste to energy technology
4.
Street lighting efficiencies
5.
Transport improvements
6.
Employee Density/Residential Density
7.
Renewable energy
The ISF briefing paper argues that the current international concentration on medium to
long-term commitments created the risk of communities becoming cynical about such targets
when scientists were warning that action was also urgently needed in the short-term.
Media contact: Graham Cassidy, Cato Counsel, 0419 202317, or Deborah Wilkinson,
CCCLM, 62 85 1672
The CCCLM comprises:
o
Rt Hon Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Michael Harbison
o
Rt Hon Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Cr Campbell Newman
o
Mr Jon Stanhope, MLA, ACT Chief Minister and Minister for Territory and
Municipal Services
o
Rt Hon Graeme Sawyer, Lord Mayor of Darwin
o
Rt Hon Lord Mayor of Hobart, Alderman Rob Valentine
o
Rt Hon Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle
o
Rt Hon Lord Mayor of Perth, Lisa Scaffidi
o
Rt Hon Clover Moore MP, Lord Mayor of Sydney
SNAPSHOT OF THE INPUTS OF CAPITAL CITIES
o
64 per cent of the total population
o
63 per cent of small, medium and large businesses
o
78 per cent of economic growth (2001-06)
o
70 per cent of Gross Domestic Product
o
66 per cent of total jobs
o
70 per cent of total international visits (6 million plus visitors a year)
o
$1trillion in managed funds (the fourth largest in the world)
o
$3 billion a year investment by capital city councils
o
Administration by capital city councils of more than 25 billion in assets
NEWS 
