Page 4602 - Week 12 - Thursday, 15 October 2009
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seven political parties represented on the city council. Administration is through a chief mayor and six deputy mayors, or mayors as they are known. All parties share in these roles. So every policy and program emerges from a consensus position that includes all parties from the conservative to the radical, and this has been with some truly impressive results. They have, for example, reduced carbon emissions by more than 20 per cent over the last decade. I will return to Copenhagen’s policies and their relevance to the ACT a little later.
The same story is true in Freiburg. Consensus is sought and mostly achieved on all major policies, and again the results speak for themselves. Like Copenhagen, and unlike so many other cities including our own, Freiburg has reduced its carbon emissions by 14 per cent since 1992 in absolute terms and by 20 per cent per capita over the same period.
Political consensus on the need for action and the targets needed to achieve results has also underpinned the efforts and the success of the Woking Borough Council in the United Kingdom. I had the privilege of visiting the town and meeting with its administration. The town of Woking is recognised as an international leader in the deployment of renewable energy options, including solar and combined heat and power, and has already achieved 99.85 per cent independence from the national electricity grid.
Why is this all relevant to the ACT? It is relevant because we have an immediate opportunity to achieve that vital consensus here in the ACT. Without wanting to pre-empt the government’s response to the standing committee’s interim report on its inquiry into ACT greenhouse gas reduction targets, I strongly believe this report throws out the challenge to all of us in the Assembly to find an agreed response. It is too important, too fundamental to the future of our city, to not make the attempt. The government will be bringing that attitude to the discussion, which I expect, subject to all the normal cabinet processes, to occur before the December deadline for our response.
The next insight I want to focus on is that policies must deal with the real problem. The clear theme emerging from all of my discussions overseas was that strong government leadership recognises that policies must tackle the real problems in a way designed to deliver solutions. Too often, government effort, especially in voluntary, information-based programs aimed at behavioural change around energy and sustainability, do not make a difference. We preach to the converted. Many administrations are confronting this.
I was very impressed with the UK government’s carbon emissions reduction target, or CERT, scheme. CERT is an obligation introduced by the UK government on energy suppliers to achieve targets for reductions in carbon emissions in the household sector and for combating fuel poverty. Energy suppliers will be able to achieve their CERT obligations by helping consumers use less energy and through increasing the use of renewable energy. Suppliers must meet individual targets for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in homes. The target for CERT will be overall lifetime carbon dioxide savings of 154 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent, delivering annual net savings of 4.2 megatonnes of CO2 at the end of the program. This is roughly double the obligations imposed by European Union directives.
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