Cities for Climate Protection (CCP^TM) Program

Holroyd City Council joined the Cities for Climate Protection Program (CCP) in July 2003 and, having completed the final milestone of this project in March 2009, is now part of the CCP Plus Program.

These programs were developed by the International Council for Local Government Initiatives (ICLEI) with the key aim to work with local governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a local level. The CCP Plus Program is an advanced program for council's who want to continue to strive towards greenhouse gas reductions in their communities.

The initial CCP Program required Council to achieve five milestones to reduce emissions within our own organisation and across the City.

1. Milestone: Conduct an inventory and forecast for Corporate and Community greenhouse gas emissions
2. Milestone: Establish an emissions reduction goal
3. Milestone: Develop and adopt a Local Action Plan
4. Milestone: Implement the Local Action Plan
5. Milestone: Monitor and report on achievements

An outline of what was involved with each of these milestones and when they were completed is provided below.

In June 2004, Council completed Milestones 1 and 2 of the program establishing an emissions inventory for the base year of 1995/1996 and adopting an emissions reduction goal of 20% below 1996 levels by 2010.

Progress towards Milestone 3 was achieved through the preparation of the Greenhouse Reduction Local Action Plan that outlines the broad approaches that Council and its community will take to reduce greenhouse emissions. The implementation of actions outlined in the Greenhouse Reduction Local Action Plan satisfied Councils progress towards Milestone 4. Completion of Milestone 5 was satisfied by an analysis of Councils and the communities emissions from its base year (1995/1996) to the re-inventory year (2006/2007) and submission of the Milestone 5 Report.

Preparation of the Milestone 5 report for Council showed that, compared to the base year (1995/1996), Councils corporate emissions are 34% higher in the re-inventory year (2006/2007) and that energy costs across the board have risen significantly from $1.46 million to $2.5 million.

There were small increases in emissions in the waste (6.7%) and vehicle (5%) sectors. Streetlight emissions increased 63% since the base year and there is a notable increase (27.5%) in the costs of network usage since the base year. Building emissions have also increased significantly since the base year, up 141%. The installation of gas heating allowing extended annual usage at Councils swim centres and the construction of a new administrative centre to house Council operations are major drivers in this sector. A 67% reduction in emissions was experienced in the water pumping and water reticulation sector due to the closure of Kidseum.

In the community sector, analysis showed that overall, total greenhouse gas emissions increased 5.5% since the base year. The largest increase was in the residential sector with a 60% increase during the reporting period and an increase of 28% from community transport emissions. A small increase was recorded in the commercial sector (6%) and the industrial sector has achieved an overall 3% decrease in emissions. Waste data was not available for the base year but emissions have been included in the 2006 inventory.

Holroyd City Council has undertaken a number of abatement activities since the base year. Combined, these abatement activities have reduced overall emissions by 14,667 eCO2 tonnes.

Holroyd City Council remains committed to achieving its greenhouse emissions reduction goals through measures already planned, but it recognises that substantial reductions across a wider range of its operations are required to meet its corporate and community reduction targets of 20% on 1996 levels by 2010.