Climate Action Plan Adopted

On 27 September 2021, City of Boroondara adopted the Climate Action Plan. The Plan was first announced in 2019 and in July 2021 a draft was released for public feedback prior to its adoption. The plan replaces the former ‘Our Low Carbon Future Strategy’ as City of Boroondara’s primary strategic document for council climate policy. The plan is set to last ten years and be refreshed in five years.

As part of the Plan, City of Boroondara has declared a Climate Emergency after hearing the community's "strong support to take action against climate change". Features of the Plan include an explanation as to why a plan has been put in place, the role it will play, how the community has been consulted, what has been done in the community already, and the current emissions of Boroondara. The Plan vision is that "everyone who lives, works and plays in Boroondara will come together to achieve our collective goals" and outlines council targets, community targets, actions and themes, ways to monitor and report the actions taken, and community ideas for future action plans.

The key targets for council include:

• Carbon neutral by 2022

• Reduce actual emissions by 90% by 2030 (compared to our baseline year in 2007–08)

• Reduce our actual emissions by 100% by 2040 (compared to our baseline year in 2007–08)

And supporting measures such as:

• Install more 1MW (megawatt) solar PV (energy captured from solar panels)

• Collect 65ML (mega litres) of water from alternative sources per year

• Increase the number of street trees from 66,000 to 80,000

• Reduce the number of Council buildings that use gas by 50%

• Increase the land managed for biodiversity from 51 hectares to 61 hectares

• Make sure our vehicle fleet is 90% electric (or other low emissions options)

The key targets for the community include:

• Be carbon neutral by 2035

• Reduce emissions by 60% by 2030 (compared with 2020 emissions)

• Reduce emissions by 100% by 2040.

And supporting measures such as:

• Support the installation of more 50,000 kw (kilowatt) solar PV (currently 27,000 kw) across Boroondara by tripling the number of buildings with solar energy systems. This target is for all buildings in Boroondara

• Support residents and schools to plant 50,000 new native plants, including 10,000 trees

• Increase the tree cover in Boroondara from 28% to 30%

• Make sure there is access to electric vehicle (EV) charging within 2km of all activity centres

• Provide sustainability workshops and education opportunities for 3,000 people each year

• Support the community to only use 130 litres of water per person per day

• Divert at least 80% of waste from landfill

For more information and to view the Climate Action Plan visit https://www.boroondara.vic.gov.au/climate-action-plan/climate-action-plan