Yarra City Council has been chosen as a finalist in the Cities Power Partnership’s fifth annual national Climate Awards, which recognise the work of local governments paving the way to a zero-carbon future.
Council’s Business Renewables Buying Group pilot is up for an award in the Collaboration category. The project was a collaboration between Yarra City Council, Eastern Alliance for Greenhouse Action, Darebin City Council, Melbourne City Council, Meri-bek City Council and Northern Alliance for Greenhouse Action and developed an effective model for medium to large scale businesses to group purchase renewables.
The successful project supported participating businesses to scale up their purchasing power and led to a combined business renewable energy purchase equivalent to 5,000 Victorian homes, while cutting the complexity, time, and cost associated with going 100% renewable.
Mayor, Claudia Nguyen, said she was delighted to hear the announcement.
“Yarra City Council is proud to be a climate leader, working to reduce emissions in a way that supports not only people and our environment, but also the economy.”
“To be selected as a finalist for these awards is testament to the hard work that went into this fantastic collaboration with other councils and Greenhouse Alliances. This project highlights the positive outcomes that can be achieved when councils and businesses work together to find innovate solutions to address the climate crisis,” she said.
Finalists were selected from entries submitted by a diverse range of communities from rural townships through to capital cities across seven award categories including renewable energy, energy efficiency, collaboration and innovation.
Dr Portia Odell, Director of the Cities Power Partnership, congratulated Yarra City Council for making the final shortlist for the awards, saying this year’s entries reflect a new level of climate action and ambition amongst local governments.
“From councils collaborating to source 100 percent renewable energy to power their operations, to supporting low-income households to install solar panels and insulate their homes, our finalists are leading the way,” she said.
“These local champions are a critical part of Australia’s climate solution. It’s time to celebrate the climate heroes in local government, who are helping their communities to drive down greenhouse gas emissions and creating a better future.”
The winners will be announced at the Cities Power Partnership’s Climate Summit for Local Government 2023 in Melbourne tomorrow.
The Climate Summit is the premier climate and energy event for local government leaders in Australia. It will explore opportunities in clean transport, clean energy transformation, climate risk, building resilience and adapting to climate change, and working together for greater impact.
Cities Power Partnership is a free national program created by the Climate Council that celebrates and accelerates the emission reduction and clean energy successes of Australia in towns and cities.
The Cities Power Partnership awards recognise councils demonstrating climate mitigation action across the listed 39 action pledge items under the Cities Power Partnership.
