Chief Executive Officer
Elected Members Environment Staff Information - Engineering Staff Marketing and Public Relations Staff Parks and Recreation Staff Policy and Strategic Planning Staff Recycling - Waste Management
The LGA President Mayor Joy Baluch and SA Premier Mike Rann yesterday signed a formal agreement under the Climate Change and Greenhouse Emissions Reduction Act. The agreement provides a range of supports from State Government and from the LGA in relation to climate change and a draft annual program for consultation with Councils and State agencies. A copy of the agreement and draft annual program which will form a schedule to the agreement is linked to this circular.
In only the second sector agreement under SA's innovative Climate Change and Greenhouse Emissions Reduction Act the Local Government Association and State Government have agreed to work together on climate change.
The agreement was signed as a part of an LGA Beyond Carbon Climate Change Summit held in Adelaide on Wednesday 4 June. A copy of the agreement can be found on www.lga.sa.gov.au/goto/climatechange.
The agreement sets the principles and outlines key areas where the LGA and the State will work together to support Councils. The draft annual program, which will form a schedule to the agreement, is open for consultation both with Councils and State agencies.
The LGA will next week provide a structured process for Council feedback on the draft annual program to ensure we clearly identify: essential State agency input/support; Council requirements and constraints and that timeframes are realistic.
The agreement commits the State Government to:
Access to research advice from the Sir Hubert Wilkins chair in Climate Change at the University of Adelaide on technical issues such as flooding risk and sea level elevation;
An initial allocation of $100,000 to support community education initiatives on the role of households in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; and,
State agency support in areas such as more efficient public lighting, GreenPower procurement, adaptation and risk assessments for Councils and for communities; carbon offsets and sequestration; and, energy efficiency.
As in other areas we will work with the State to identify any resource challenges to agreed bodies of work, to quantify the resources required and negotiate appropriate contributions to achieve agreed outcomes. This will include identifying potential Commonwealth funding opportunities to assist in achieving joint objectives.
The LGA has agreed to work to support 25 Councils to have climate change adaptation plans in place by the end of 2009 through the Mutual Liability Scheme Program announced in LGA Circular 10.7.
The State Act sets a target of reducing SA's greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by more than 60 p.c. by 2050.
