A number of initiatives have been undertaken by us to help councils reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Building an understanding of the national reporting frameworks and how these may fit with councils’ existing accounting is one of our initiatives.
Our Victorian local government guide to reducing carbon emissions provides an overview of carbon footprinting for councils and how they can get started on emissions reduction.
We ran a series of training sessions about carbon management to help councils understand their carbon emissions profile and reduce their carbon price exposure. Representatives from 51 councils attended the sessions.
We’re also helping councils understand their exposure to a carbon price, having performed analysis in 2009 and updated this in early 2012.
Financial effects of the carbon price on councils
Our survey of 38 Victorian councils confirmed that expenses are likely to rise by 0.8 per cent as a result of the Australian Government's carbon tax. This rise is broadly in line with expected movements in consumer prices.
If all cost increases were collected through rates, it would result in a median increase of 1.5 per cent. The range of expected rate increases is 0.7 to 3.3 per cent.
These results assume that councils don't undertake any efficiency initiatives or attempt to reduce their exposure to the carbon price. As such, it is highly likely that the resulting increases in costs will be lower than the modelled 0.8 per cent median.
Our modelling also confirmed that the design of the carbon price reduces the overall cost to local government in comparison to the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. This is primarily due to the exclusion of legacy waste emissions from the scheme and the exclusion of heavy on-road fuel use.
Watch videos
Find out more about what other councils are doing to reduce their carbon emissions and reduce their exposure to carbon pricing by watching: