Page 3133 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 22 August 2017
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and biodiversity conservation. The strategy has the primary goal of supporting the community and our city, as well as the natural environment, to become more resilient to the impacts from climate change, such as extreme heat and increasing severe weather events like storms.
Adaptation is about identification of risks and preparedness for those risks, to increase resilience to the shocks and stressors from climate change impacts. Taking adaptation actions now will have both direct and indirect savings for the community by improving overall resilience to extreme weather events or climate-induced natural disasters. The adaptation strategy also has a strong focus on building up the green infrastructure within our city, including smarter buildings, greater tree cover and more efficient use of our energy and water resources.
The ACT, as members well know, is leading the nation on our commitment towards a more sustainable future, particularly through our progress towards our goal of 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2020. I have recently provided a detailed update to the Assembly on the review of the most recent feed-in tariff auctions, particularly those under the next generation renewables auction. We are making considerable progress towards our renewable electricity target. We now have 32 per cent of our electricity coming from renewable sources and more coming online in the near future. All remaining renewable energy projects have reached financial close or commenced construction. Our percentage will increase to 100 per cent by 2020 as a result of signing these contracts and locking in these sources of renewable energy. As I touched on in question time today in response to a question from Ms Orr, this work has been supported by significant industry investment, which is positioning Canberra as a centre for renewable energy innovation, both nationally and internationally.
There is a range of initiatives occurring in that space, including the $12 million industry-funded renewable energy innovation fund, which I spoke about in question time today. The renewables innovation hub, over in city west, is becoming an important focal point for the industry here in the ACT, and an important focal point for collaboration and innovation where people are bouncing off each other, sharing ideas and having a space where industry are coming together and grasping the opportunities that they might not otherwise have seen.
Finally, I note that through this budget we will continue to provide support through our successful Actsmart programs, including $865,000 in funding this year. This commitment will allow for the continuation of programs that support increased recycling, waste reduction and the continuation of the wood heater replacement program. Last year, businesses who signed up to our Actsmart recycling program diverted more than 33,000 cubic metres of waste from landfill to recycling, which I think is a very significant achievement. To provide some perspective, this equates to over 137,000 domestic recycling bins. Local ACT schools accredited in the waste component of the Actsmart schools program reduced, on average, their waste to landfill by 21 per cent. The education that the students at these schools received will ensure that younger generations will be our sustainability champions of the future.
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