Victoria’s Andrews Labor Government yesterday announced a goal of slashing Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions by 15 to 20 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020.
The Victorian Government will also reduce emissions associated with the operations of government departments by 30 per cent below 2015 levels by 2020.
Part of this effort will see initiatives to improve the energy efficiency of government buildings and infrastructure, plus the installation of solar panels on government buildings and facilities – including prisons and nine Department of Environment, Land Water and Planning (DELWP) office sites.
Also announced on Sunday were the release of Victoria’s Climate Change Framework and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Under2 Coalition. Under2 is an international coalition highlighting and promoting climate change action by city and state governments around the world.
“2016 was officially the world’s hottest year on record but it was also a year Victoria took important steps to reduce the risks of climate change,” said Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio .
“We’ve introduced our world leading Climate Change Bill, set strong renewable energy targets and appointed Victoria’s first independent Renewable Energy Advocate. Now, we’ve announced ambitious yet achievable emissions targets for 2020 to put us on the path to net zero emissions by 2050.”
Victoria has set renewable energy targets of 25% by 2020 and 40% by 2025.
Last year, the State Government launched the TAKE2 program, a pledge and review process similar to that used under the Paris Agreement. Since June, it has received more than 2,400 pledges from local governments, schools and tertiary institutions, community groups and businesses.
The Victorian Government says the TAKE2 program play will play a critical role in achieving the 2020 targets.
More on TAKE2 can be viewed here (PDF).
Reaching the interim emissions target will certainly be made easier by the closure of Hazelwood Power Station, which will shut down at the end of March this year.
According to Environment Victoria, the ageing power station spews more than 15 million tonnes of greenhouse pollution each year.
” That’s almost 15 percent of Victoria’s annual greenhouse gas emissions and 3 percent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, all on its own,” says the group.
