Page 436 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 4 March 2008
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I mentioned earlier the targets that the ACT government has set. We also aim for a milestone of reducing emissions back to 2000 levels by 2025. Both of these targets will be reviewed and amended as necessary in light of future scientific advice and any new policy position to be adopted by the commonwealth arising from their actions to ratify the Kyoto protocol.
The ACT strategy focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to inevitable climate change, raising awareness in the community and facilitating joint action within the community and within the region. The strategy has four objectives: to be smarter in how we use resources; to design and plan our city to be more sustainable; to build our capacity to adapt to and manage the changes to climate that we are now beginning to face and possible future changes; and to improve our understanding of climate change, its causes and effects and how we need to respond. The strategy is supported by action plan 2007-2011. As the climate change issue will be with us for the foreseeable future, a strong emphasis of this action plan is increasing awareness both in the wider community and through educating children through schools and community activities and events. I am sure that my colleague Minister Barr will highlight some of those initiatives later on.
The action plan sets out 43 initiatives that the government will implement from now until 2011. These initiatives touch on all aspects of our ACT economy, society and environment and include improving the energy efficiency of government and commercial buildings; showcasing and promoting renewable energy technologies; increasing community and business awareness; supporting our specialist research facilities; and ensuring easy market access to green power.
Recent rainfall over the summer months has mitigated the need to move to stage 4 restrictions. However, water security for the ACT continues to require ongoing planning and review. The ACT government has undertaken extensive work with respect to water planning and management. The government’s policy was outlined in the think water, act water strategic framework announced back in April 2004. This strategy was far more than a response to the drought; it was a planning and action plan for the ACT’s water supply and demand management.
Since 2004, and in the context of the severe drought, the ACT government and Actew continued the exploration of water security options, in addition to those measures already delivered, to ensure the ACT region has sufficient water to continue to grow and maintain Canberra as a sustainable city. This required extensive technical investigation and analysis. In July 2007 the ACT government received Actew’s final reports and recommendations on water security for the ACT region. These recommendations were based on extensive work conducted in assessing future water options.
On 23 October 2007 the Chief Minister announced a diverse range of water security measures that will be implemented. These include: enlarging the Cotter dam from four gigalitres to 78 gigalitres; the installation of infrastructure to increase the volume of water transferred from the Murrumbidgee River to the Googong Dam; pursuing the possibility of purchasing water from Tantangara Dam; and design of a demonstration
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