Brimbank declared a climate emergency in June 2019.
Through the Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan, adopted in June 2020, we’ve outlined five ways Brimbank will tackle this emergency:
- Empowering the community
- Shifting to 100 per cent renewable energy
- Building more resilient infrastructure
- Greening and cooling the city
- Moving towards a low-waste circular economy
Emissions targets
Brimbank is aiming for zero net emissions for Council operations by 2030 and the Brimbank municipality by 2040.
We’ve joined VECO, the Victorian Energy Collaboration - Australia’s largest local government sector emissions reduction project.
All Brimbank Council buildings, sports grounds, community venues, leisure centres and street lights are now powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity (as of 1 July 2021).
This will save 260,000 tonnes of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere every year – the same as taking 90,000 cars off the road.
About 11,000 mercury vapour residential street lights have been replaced with high efficiency LED lights.
A further 4000 major road lights are also in the process of being replaced with high efficiency LED lights.
Altogether these projects are saving Council millions dollars over the coming decades and have slashed our street light networks energy demand by more than 50 per cent.
Council facilities are being electrified to phase out the use of fossil fuel natural gas and enable greater use renewable energy.
We’ve installed over 1,000 KW of rooftop solar PV at nearly all of our facilities and have trialled solar battery storage at the Sunshine West Community Centre.
We are implementing an Australian first all-electric aquatic centre at the new Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre, supported by an additional 500KW solar PV system.
We have adopted an Environmentally Sustainable Design Framework for Council buildings, requiring sustainable energy efficient design and renewable energy for all new Council facilities.
We are transitioning Council's fleet of vehicles to electric and other zero emissions vehicles.
Electric vehicle charging stations have been installed at the Sunshine Multi-Deck Carpark and Keilor Operations Centre and a first batch of electric vehicles have been bought. This includes two locally manufactured electric tipper trucks now servicing Council’s parks.
We have also developed a plan to further guide a transition to a zero emissions Council fleet by 2030.
We are adapting our open space network and public spaces to be cool and green with alternative water sources and increased tree cover.
We are changing our streets and activity centres to be people and cycling friendly and expanding our bike path network to allow greater use of bikes and electric-scooters.
We are restoring our natural places and waterways to support biodiversity and habitat connectivity, whilst also providing better access for the community.
We’re working collaboratively to decrease greenhouse gas emissions as part of the Western Alliance for Greenhouse Action (WAGA) – a local government partnership with other western region councils.
Together we will lead and support shared action to lower greenhouse gas emissions and work in with local communities, government, industry, and research bodies to create liveable suburbs now and for the future.
Brimbank's Sustainable Business Program helps businesses take control of their power costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Since 2018 the program has helped introduce more than 1140KW of solar PV capacity across local businesses through environmental finance agreements. This finance can be used for environmental upgrades such as renewable energy systems as well as energy and water efficiency measures.
Want to know more? email environment@brimbank.vic.gov.au