Climate change networks
There is much we can do collectively at a local and regional level to reduce our carbon pollution. Importantly, we can all play a role in demanding State and Federal Governments put in place key policies to enable Merri-bek (and Australia) to transition to Zero Carbon at emergency speed. By joining together to respond to the climate emergency and play our part in transforming our society and economy to restore a safe climate, we can help ensure our city and our planet is a place we can all enjoy.
Moreland City Council is an active member of a number of groups to increase our collective impact.
The Northern Alliance for Greenhouse Action (NAGA):
The Northern Alliance for Greenhouse Action (NAGA) is a network of northern Melbourne metropolitan councils. Merri-bek City Council is joined by eight other local councils including the City of Melbourne, City of Yarra, Hume City Council and City of Darebin. NAGA is part of a wider collection local government climate alliances that for the Victorian Greenhouse Alliances covering close to 90% of all Victorian municipalities.
NAGA unites local governments and fosters collaboration between councils to achieve a zero carbon society. Through projects looking at local resilience of communities in the face of climate change and advocacy at the State and National levels, NAGA amplifies the calls of councils to urgently address the climate emergency.
Council staff and councillors regularly attend workshops, events and networking sessions to share ideas on best practice solutions for climate problems affecting their communities and to hear the latest research from experts.
Visit NAGA and Victorian Greenhouse Alliances for more information.
TAKE2:
TAKE2 is a Victorian state government initiative launched in 2016 and facilitated by Sustainability Victoria. The program encourages individuals, businesses, organisations and local governments pledge to take a series of actions to tackle climate change. More than 13 000 Victorians have pledged to take a range of actions in areas including waste, leadership, transport, energy and community collaboration.
Moreland City Council is a founding partner of TAKE2. The Melbourne Renewable Energy Project, which Council is part of, is one of the leading achievements undertaken by members of the TAKE2 program.
Visit our TAKE2 page to view our pledge profile and learn more.
Cities Power Partnership (CPP):
The Cities Power Partnership (CPP), as part of the Climate Council, brings together councils in Australia’s largest local government climate network. Merri-bek City Council is one of 129 Australian councils that form the network, each pledging to reduce emissions and transition to clean energy sources.
The Cities Power Partnership embraces collaborative principles and knowledge sharing through the Knowledge Hub which houses a resource library, an emissions tracking tool and an online forum for sharing learnings.
Moreland City Council has pledged to increase renewable energy for both our corporate operations and to support the community transition to renewable power. Council is also taking action on increasing sustainable transport and collaboration within the community in line with our Zero Carbon Framework.
Visit Moreland’s CPP profile and the Climate Council for more information.
Climate Emergency Australia (CEA):
Climate Emergency Australia (CEA) is a new national network of local councils formed out of the 2020 National Climate Emergency Summit held in Melbourne in February 2020. CEA launched in June 2020 and draws on the input from over 70 councils at the National Climate Emergency Summit. CEA is hosted by the City of Melbourne, administered by NAGA and receives ‘foundation funding’ from several councils, including Merri-bek City Council.
CEA brings together multiple local councils, many of which have been involved in regional climate emergency networks, to further accelerate momentum for climate policy and action at the State and Federal levels. It advocates for climate emergency action through public campaigns, develops support materials for councils looking to declare a climate emergency and provides a mechanism for collaboration and resource sharing across Australia.
Visit NAGA (Secretariat) for further information.
Climate Active:
Climate Active is an Australian Federal Government and business partnership that certifies organisations including local governments as carbon neutral. Merri-bek City Council has been certified carbon neutral since 2011, with all corporate electricity coming from 100% renewable energy since 2019.
Carbon neutrality is achieved when emissions are reduced as much as possible and any remaining emissions are offset through purchased carbon reduction activities. The criteria are set out in the Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard and certified organisations are required to produce a yearly Public Disclosure Summary.
View Merri-bek’s Public Disclosure Summaries and learn more about our corporate emissions reductions here. Visit our page on Climate Active’s website for more information.
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI):
The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) is an international association of local and metropolitan governments dedicated to sustainable development. ICLEI provides technical consulting, training, and information services to build capacity, share knowledge, and support local government in the implementation of sustainable development at the local level.
Moreland is a longstanding member of ICLEI.
Visit ICLEI for more information.
Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy:
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (the Covenant) is the world’s largest alliance of city governments, representing more than 800 million people. Founding partners include ICLEI, United Cities and Local Governments and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.
The Covenant brings together the Compact of Mayors, which Merri-bek joined in December 2015, and the European Union Covenant of Mayors. Merri-bek was one of a select group of governments at the time taking strong action on climate change joining the Compact prior to the Paris International Climate Negotiations. Cities, as population centres and major energy users, have the ability to make a strong impact in reaching a net zero emission world.
The Covenant establishes a common platform to capture the impact of cities’ collective actions and emissions inventory as well as provide research and technical assistance to local policy leaders.
Visit our page on the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy website for more information.