Page 4448 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 30 October 2018
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zero-emission vehicles; co-hosting an affiliate event to the Global Climate Action Summit with the City of Sacramento, California, and signing the ACT on to an agreement with Sacramento called the carbon zero cities declaration, whose focus is to enable mid-sized cities to work more effectively together to reach zero greenhouse gas emissions; speaking to a large global audience on panels on zero emission vehicles and 100 per cent renewable energy panels and at a plenary session to announce that the ACT has joined the global Powering Past Coal Alliance; and meeting with various mental health stakeholders and visiting facilities in the UK, including visiting a recovery college in London and the mental health triage team at Oleaster psychiatric hospital in Birmingham. These are successful pioneering initiatives in mental health policy which are being implemented or can inform future service delivery in the ACT.
I would now like to provide some further details about these highlights and other aspects of the trip. The Zero Emission Vehicle Summit was hosted by the UK government in Birmingham on 11 and 12 September. The UK is seeking to accelerate its work on zero-emission vehicles and has a goal to have no more non-electric cars sold by 2040. The Zero Emission Vehicle Summit was the world’s first global summit to focus on zero-emission vehicles and brought together ministers, city leaders, policymakers, industry leaders and financial and academic institutions.
I was invited to the summit to be a panellist on local leadership in the transition to the zero-emission vehicles. This was an excellent opportunity to speak about the work of the ACT government and be recognised on the global stage as a leader in transitioning to zero-emission vehicles. I also spoke about the importance of local jurisdictions taking a strong leadership role in tackling climate change, as we are doing here in the ACT.
With transport expected to create over 60 per cent of the ACT’s emissions by 2020, mostly from private car use, we are strongly committed to reducing greenhouse gases by encouraging active travel, providing high quality low-emissions public transport options and transitioning to zero-emission vehicles. The conference provided the opportunity to talk to leaders in zero-emission vehicle action from around the world and to learn about the challenges and successes they have experienced. This is useful information as the ACT seeks to actively transition to zero-emission vehicles.
Attending this summit also provided an opportunity for me to sign the Birmingham zero-emission vehicles declaration on behalf of the ACT. The Birmingham declaration expresses a shared commitment to achieving the transition to zero-emission vehicles by supporting the development of zero-emissions technology and collaborating internationally.
The statement of the ACT government, made as a supplement to the Birmingham declaration, commits us to a number of key actions. These include but are not limited to: transitioning the ACT government’s passenger vehicles fleet to zero-emission vehicles from 2020-21 where fit for purpose; requiring all new multi-unit and mixed-use developments to install vehicle charging infrastructure; providing transit lane access to zero-emission vehicles until 2023; and supporting new and innovative
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