Wellington Shire Council is on track to reach net zero emissions by 2040, and the new Our Sustainability Impact online report is measuring our progress, achievements, and success.
Council recently launched a new tool to keep the community up to date about the progress being made towards the goals and targets outlined in the Sustainability Strategy 2020-24.
The new interactive Our Sustainability Impact online report breaks up Council's sustainability projects into the five key themes of the Sustainability Strategy. It looks closely at how we have worked towards achieving climate resilient communities, a low carbon economy, protecting nature, and progressing towards a circular economy and environmental stewardship - the rolling report documents the progress and highlights as we continue to be a community leader in sustainability.
Some highlights from the last 12 months include swapping almost all high energy streetlights to energy efficient LEDs, trialling a range of plant species to uncover which will perform better under a changing climate, and the wonderful work being done onsite to make compost, mulch and soil, used to fertilise public parks and garden beds.
Last year, Wellington Shire Council identified Climate Change as the region's number one priority in the Council Plan 2021-25. The plan recognises that temperature increases, lower rainfall, more frequent bushfires, more intense flooding and sea level rises will all have a significant impact on the local community.
Council continues to facilitate projects that aim to mitigate and adapt local communities to climate change and through this work, we are taking a two-part approach to tackle climate change:
- Mitigation: to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2040, ensuring we do our part to limit global warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius.
- Adaptation: modify planning processes, ensuring local communities are prepared for continuing climate change impacts, acknowledging that more extreme impacts are expected under a high emissions scenario.
Visit Council's website at www.wellington.vic.gov.au/environment/our-plan-of-sustainable-action to view the Our Sustainability Impact report.
Public reporting is central to the commitment of transparency regarding Council's environmental footprint, and we are proud to again be reporting on the progress of our four-year sustainability strategy.
You are encouraged to check in with projects that are happening nearby under the Virtual Tour tab or see the revegetation impact of Council's planting projects after a few decades by using interactive sliders.
