“Thank you for the opportunity to speak in support of the Notice of Motion 25/005 Eurobodalla Shire Council acknowledges the climate change (net zero future) Act 2023 and our obligations in regard to emissions reductions to achieve the targets set out in the ACT

While the Council has set itself non-binding emissions reduction targets, SHASA strongly supports the NSW Government’s Climate Change Net Zero Futures legislation as it is a binding target to achieve State emission reduction targets to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.  Most importantly it obligates that all Councils including the Eurobodalla Shire Council meet the regulations relating to that Act.

Finally, Council will be forced to take emissions reductions seriously with 31 Net Zero Milestones prepared by the Net Zero Accelerator Program to assist Council to improve its emissions data capture and account for their emissions data and actions in emissions reduction.  The NSW Government is also establishing an independent expert Net Zero Commission to monitor, review, report on and advise on progress towards these targets.

Since the departure of the Council Sustainability Coordinator, in early 2020 SHASA has not seen any data showing how the Council is going in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions – despite its target of reducing emissions by 80% by 2030.  

Before the Sustainability Coordinator left he informed SHASA that transport was the fastest growing source of emissions.  Sadly they still only have one electric vehicle.  When SHASA representatives met with the Mayor and General Manager in May to offer to develop a detailed business case on the benefits (economic and environmental) of switching suitable vehicles to electric, the General Manager said it was not a priority.  Funding is available from the Federal and State Governments to assist with switching to electric – sadly this Council has not yet taken up these opportunities.

Let’s look at electricity.  The last thing the Sustainability Coordinator did before leaving the Council was to organise a power purchase agreement to lock in a good price for electricity from renewable sources.  He wanted it to cover 100%.  In their wisdom this was reduced to 80%.  With the Bay Pavilions becoming operational this dropped to 58%.  The result is more emissions and more financial cost to Council.  When representatives of SHASA met with the Mayor and General Manager, we raised the idea of a solar car park at the Pavillion and that one option was community financing if they did not want to fund the capital costs up front.  Again the General Manager said this was not a priority.

It has been brought to SHASA’s attention, through the recently prepared GHD Report, that the Council spends nearly $1m a year on electricity bills for the Bay Pavillion.  Why has it taken till now for the Council to start focusing on sustainability features at the building.  Why wasn’t a much bigger solar array installed when it was built? Why weren’t timers put on lighting and appliances when it was built?  We can tell you why, because this Council does not prioritise emissions reduction.  Thereby incurring a greater cost to the ratepayers of the Eurobodalla.

Waste.  A major source of Council emissions is methane from the rotting or organic matter.  Unlike a number of other regional Councils, Eurobodalla Shire Council has delayed bringing in food organics, gardening organics or FOGO for short. As a result we still have food waste rotting away at the tips and releasing methane – a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than CO2.  

The General Manager’s response tries to give the impression that plenty is happening in this space, that we have a Eurobodalla Climate Action Plan, and strong targets.  What he does not mention is that the Eurobodalla Climate Action Plan does not have a budget.  The draft Climate Action Plan was significantly watered down  with extensive use of vague terms like advocate, investigate, consider.  

The General Manager refers to the Council’s Sustainability Team. Many of you might think, great they have a team working on sustainability.  The reality is that the staffing resources are totally inadequate, only 1.6 FTE.  As stated on page 5 of the papers the Council’s strong emissions targets are only as good as the policies that underpin them and require resourcing , i.e. money to develop the policies and to embed procedural items supporting them across the Council’s operations.

This was highlighted by the Net Zero Maturity Snapshot (2023) which identified work the Council needs to do including: 

1. An emissions inventory – it’s vital to track progress with emissions.  We currently have no way of knowing if progress is being made in achieving the emissions reduction targets. 
   
   
   
2. Embedding emission reduction targets into all Council strategic documents, processes and programs.
   
   
3. Adopting a Fleet Transition Plan with Targets.

Sadly, this Council has been basically kicking the can down the road re emissions reduction/climate action.  They have pretty much been treading water on climate action since 2020.  It continues to this day as reflected in the Councils 2024/25 Operational Plan where under Strategy 1.3. Activity 1.3.1 Reduce Council’s contribution to the effects of man-made climate change through the Implementation of the Climate Plan there are two actions.

1.3.1.1 Design and implement programs for planting, and or, artificial shading of strategic urban landscapes, council car parks and playgrounds

 1,3,1,2 Facilitate a Climate Change Advisory Group

Once again, minimal actions to reduce emissions.

SHASA strongly supports this motion as a critical first step in the Council getting serious about meeting its emission targets and those legislated by the NSW Government.”