Working with other governments

Responding effectively to climate change requires action at the local, state, national and international levels.

Australian Government: key climate change responsibilities

The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency coordinates the Australian Government’s climate change policy agenda across three pillars:

• mitigation to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions
• adaptation to the climate change that cannot be avoided
• shaping a global solution - helping to reach a collective international response.

Other key initiatives include the Renewable Energy Target, the National Strategy on Energy Efficiency and the Carbon Farming Initiative (which was passed by Parliament on 23 August 2011).

Developments regarding a national carbon price

The Australian Government introduced legislation in September 2011 to implement the policy set out in Securing a clean energy future: the Australian Government's climate change plan. The legislation is known as the Clean Energy Legislative Package.

Working with other states and territories

The NSW Government participates in a number of national climate change partnerships and agreements and is a member of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), the nation's major intergovernmental forum.

For information on other state and territory responses to climate change, visit the environment departments in each state and territory.

Local government

The Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) works with NSW local government on a variety of climate change and sustainability projects.

Sustainability payments

Local council waste and sustainability improvement payments (WaSIP) assist local councils to invest in extra actions and programs that improve waste and sustainability outcomes across their local government areas. Sustainability payments:

• began in 2006-07 and over three years delivered some $25 million in performance improvement payments to 51 councils
• have since been extended to a 7-year program running to 2015-16 with $237.3 million available to eligible councils in the Sydney metropolitan area and extended regulated areas(SMA/ERA) and $19.1 million to councils in the regional regulated area (RRA).

Council projects nominated for 2009-10 are detailed in the 2009-2010 Action Table Report.

Sustainability health check

Councils across Australia can take a sustainability health check through a new diagnostic tool developed specifically for local government. The Sustainability Health Check was developed for the Local Government Managers Australia (NSW) and OEH by Sustainable Futures Australia.

Local Government and Shires Associations

The Local Government Association of NSW and the Shires Association of NSW are the peak industry bodies for local government in NSW. They provide a number of projects to support councils in addressing climate change and sustainability:

• Climate Change Action Pack: This resource supports councils in addressing the significant challenge presented by climate change. The pack aims to enhance local government understanding of the impact of climate change on its areas of responsibility and assist it to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
• Towards Sustainable Communities is a website promoting good practices for local government in working with schools. It was developed by the Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW in conjunction with the Sustainable Living Project at the Faculty of the Built Environment (UNSW) in response to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014).
• The Urban Sustainability Support Alliance is a project helping NSW councils to move towards sustainability.