What goals and targets should councils adopt?
High level emissions reductions targets
A council declaring climate emergency can set targets for the council and its community. An emissions reduction target that includes sequestration and drawdown:
However, councils are subject to regulatory and economic frameworks of higher levels of government, so it is not always possible for councils to have the necessary influence across the some community sectors (for example, transitioning to zero-emissions vehicles) in order to achieve ambitious climate emergency targets when higher levels of government are not supportive.
Two CACE documents linked here provide some context to the target setting guidelines that follow:
There are several layers of targets set out below. These should all ultimately be included in the climate emergency plan and related documentation but number 1 is the most important to begin with.
1. Emissions reduction target for society / council community
This is the most important target for publication and is set by council because higher levels of government have failed to set it. It is communicated to the public with regard to the leadership and education role the council has taken on in declaring a climate emergency but includes caveats describing what would need to change at the higher levels of government for council to meet this goal. An example is
Zero and drawdown by 2030 (or within 10 years), net zero by 2025 (or within 5 years)
For council to achieve this goal, higher levels of government will need to make changes to regulations and expenditure across every council sector including road and public transport and air travel, building codes and planning, land use and agriculture, consumer goods, manufacturing and industrial processes and stationary energy.
2. Emission reduction target for council operations
This target should be well within council's control and the above target (Zero and drawdown by 2030-or within 10 years, net zero by 2025-or within 5 years) should be achievable assuming that all discretionary budget goes to climate-emergency couched transitions. Where budget limitations mean that, for example, transitioning the fleet to zero-emission vehicles is financially not possible, this can be noted in a caveat.
3. Targets for individual initiatives by council
Council's climate emergency plan will capture a broad range of changes and initiatives across every council sector as well as additional leadership, education and resilience building initiatives. Each of these will have attached measures. Examples of such measures include but are not limited to:
A council declaring climate emergency can set targets for the council and its community. An emissions reduction target that includes sequestration and drawdown:
- communicates to staff and the public the urgency of the situation
- sets the pace of action to be undertaken. Courses of action and their performance measures, which roll out from the target, will have their own measures, but the overarching emissions reduction target sits atop this detail.
However, councils are subject to regulatory and economic frameworks of higher levels of government, so it is not always possible for councils to have the necessary influence across the some community sectors (for example, transitioning to zero-emissions vehicles) in order to achieve ambitious climate emergency targets when higher levels of government are not supportive.
Two CACE documents linked here provide some context to the target setting guidelines that follow:
- CACE goals and targets factsheet
- 'Don't say climate emergency in vain: setting goals and targets in the climate emergency' (a CACE blogpost).
There are several layers of targets set out below. These should all ultimately be included in the climate emergency plan and related documentation but number 1 is the most important to begin with.
1. Emissions reduction target for society / council community
This is the most important target for publication and is set by council because higher levels of government have failed to set it. It is communicated to the public with regard to the leadership and education role the council has taken on in declaring a climate emergency but includes caveats describing what would need to change at the higher levels of government for council to meet this goal. An example is
Zero and drawdown by 2030 (or within 10 years), net zero by 2025 (or within 5 years)
For council to achieve this goal, higher levels of government will need to make changes to regulations and expenditure across every council sector including road and public transport and air travel, building codes and planning, land use and agriculture, consumer goods, manufacturing and industrial processes and stationary energy.
2. Emission reduction target for council operations
This target should be well within council's control and the above target (Zero and drawdown by 2030-or within 10 years, net zero by 2025-or within 5 years) should be achievable assuming that all discretionary budget goes to climate-emergency couched transitions. Where budget limitations mean that, for example, transitioning the fleet to zero-emission vehicles is financially not possible, this can be noted in a caveat.
3. Targets for individual initiatives by council
Council's climate emergency plan will capture a broad range of changes and initiatives across every council sector as well as additional leadership, education and resilience building initiatives. Each of these will have attached measures. Examples of such measures include but are not limited to:
- 'climate emergency' mentioned in the first article of every council newsletter
- Deliver X community events with climate emergency content
- Remove X metric tonnes of waste to landfill annually
- Install X electric car chargers across council area
- X% of all plastic waste will be recycled within X years
- Plant X trees in low-canopy areas within 2 years.
