Darebin City Council (DCC) in Melbourne, Australia were the first in the world to declare a climate emergency in December 2016.

We have been appointed to help the council to determine what practical actions they can take to meaningfully reduce the amount of carbon that they currently emit through their waste management practices. We are working with our New Zealand office, as well as Australian engineering consultancy Irwinconsult.

As a result of the declaration, the council has produced a Climate Emergency Plan, which outlines the objectives and actions that DCC will take to reduce their contribution to climate change. Our work with DCC addresses Key Direction No. 5: Consumption and Waste Minimisation. The aim of this directive is to reduce the amount of waste to landfill, including food waste and recycling.

Our team are working with DCC to examine the practical steps that they can take to reduce their carbon emissions from waste. This involves carrying out an assessment of the area’s current emissions, as well as evaluating the potential effectiveness of a range of options, including the potential for Energy from Waste and the use of biochar.

Since Darebin’s declaration, local authorities across the world have taken similar action, with dozens of councils having currently declared climate emergencies in the UK alone.

In advising the DCC, our team is drawing from its considerable track record in this area, which includes the development in 2010 of the ground-breaking Greenhouse Gas Emissions Performance Standard (EPS) for the Greater London Authority (GLA). Work for the GLA currently includes the provision of support to London boroughs to ensure that they comply with the EPS, as well as the development of progress updates on London’s performance against the standard.

Picture courtesy of Takver, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.