Hamilton City Council’s Climate Change Action Plan will include a city-wide partnership between businesses,
organisations and community groups to tackle how our city responds to climate change.
Proposals for the Action Plan were outlined at today’s Council meeting, including the formation of a Hamilton Climate
Change Accord.
The Accord will see the Council partner with stakeholders across Hamilton to reduce carbon emissions generated within
the city.
In developing the Action Plan, the Council commissioned a breakdown of the 982,284 tCO2e (tonnes of carbon dioxide
equivalents) of emissions produced across Hamilton.
Land transport is the city’s largest source of emissions with 62% (619,723 tCO2e), followed by energy used for industry
and in homes (29%, 276,594 tCO2e).
The intent of the Accord is for the city to work together and share the load in addressing the challenges of climate
change, especially those posed by transport and energy use.
The Chair of the Council’s Environment Committee, Councillor Margaret Forsyth, said: “The Climate Change Accord is the
key thing here. Not only can [the Council] be leading in what we’re doing as an organisation, but by bringing
stakeholders together, big and small, and working together as one … there is a leadership opportunity for us and a
collaborative opportunity.”
The Action Plan also proposes targets and actions for the Council as an organisation to reduce its carbon emissions.
Between July 2018 and June 2019, the Council generated 11,033 tCO2e, with the main contributors being fuel and natural
gas (35.6%), electricity (30.8%) and biosolids to vermi-composting (22.2%).
The Action Plan seeks to reduce the Council’s emissions by 50% by 2030 and to have net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Within the Council’s fuel and natural gas emissions, 65% is from the use of natural gas at the wastewater treatment
plant to generate electricity at peak times, boilers to heat the pools at Waterworld and Gallagher Aquatic Centre, and
for gas appliances at our various facilities.
“It’s really important that we understand our baseline and our foundation – where we are starting from and what we are
currently doing,” said Cr Forsyth. “I often say, ‘in order to go fast, you’ve got to go slow’. So, the time staff have
spent gathering that baseline data is really important.”
Options have been identified to achieve a 21% reduction, starting with those which address the main sources of
emissions. These include:installing a biogas-fired engine at the city’s wastewater treatment plant to reduce the natural gas used to generate
electricity at peak timesreplacing the gas boilers at Waterworld with heaters that emit less carbon such as electric pumpsimproving the fuel efficiency of the vehicles and tools used by Councilcontinuing the electricity efficiency programme for the city’s street lights and Council buildingsreducing the waste to landfill from Council sites.
A further 22% reduction in emissions by 2030 is anticipated to be achieved through the Government’s commitment to
reducing the use of coal and natural gas for electricity generation.
The remaining 7% of the 50% reduction target will come from projects identified between now and 2030.
The draft Climate Change Action Plan will be presented to the Environment Committee meeting in June 2020.