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Tweed Shire Council is one of 122 cities to receive top score on climate action from environmental impact non-profit, Climate Disclosure Platform (CDP).
A List cities build climate momentum, taking twice as many climate mitigation and adaptation measures as non-A Listers.
Only 12% of the 1,000+ cities that were scored in 2022 received an A score.
Tweed Shire Council has been recognised by the Climate Disclosure Platform (CDP) as one of 122 cities across the globe for taking bold leadership on environmental action and transparency, despite the pressures of a challenging global economic situation.
Designed to encourage and support cities to ramp up their climate action and ambition, CDP’s Cities A List is based on environmental data disclosed by cities to CDP-ICLEI Track. Clear momentum in city climate disclosure and action is building: for the first time, more than 1,000 cities (1,002 in total) received a rating for their climate action from CDP in 2022, a rise on the 965 cities scored in 2021. In 2022, just over one in 10 cities scored by CDP (12% of such cities) received an A.
To score an A, among other actions, a city must disclose publicly through CDP-ICLEI Track and have a city-wide emissions inventory. It must have published a climate action plan, complete a climate risk and vulnerability assessment, and have a climate adaptation plan to demonstrate how it will tackle climate hazards. Many A List cities are also taking a variety of other leadership actions, including political commitment from a city’s Mayor to tackle climate change, such as Tweed Shire Councillors’ declaration of a climate emergency.
A List cities are demonstrating their climate leadership through concerted and effective action, just as national governments were asked to do at COP27 in Egypt last week. They are taking twice as many mitigation and adaptation measures as non-A List cities.
Tweed, and the other 121 cities on this year’s A List, are also celebrated for showing that urgent and impactful climate action – from ambitious emissions reduction targets to building resilience against climate change – is achievable at a global level, and in cities with different climate realities and priorities. However, this action needs to go further and faster.
The Tweed was recognised as just one of 6 cities in the Oceania region to achieve the highest score by the CDP, with the others being Yarra City Council, City of Adelaide, City of Sydney and Canberra in Australia, as well as Wellington in New Zealand.
Mayor of Tweed Shire Chris Cherry welcomed the announcement, saying the CDP platform was a great way for Council to be transparent about its progress in response to climate change.
“For a regional area like the Tweed to be keeping pace with major cities like Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide is a good demonstration of how hard this Council is working to gather data, follow best practice, and be proactive in our response to climate change,” Cr Cherry said.
“Participating in the CDP helps us to set and track our progress against an independent standard for the climate work we do. The information we provide keeps us accountable to the community who place such emphasis on working together to reduce our impact and protect the Tweed’s internationally significant natural environment. We’re also so conscious of the social and economic toll of extreme weather events. There’s a lot to motivate our climate action.
“This award recognises Council for its ambition, leadership and transparency in responding to the threat of climate change. Never has this been more important as the world faces the final decade for concerted climate action in order to keep in line with a 1.5°C warmer future.”
Numerous projects are underway at Council as part of our efforts to respond and adapt to climate change, from supporting residents to be efficient in their water and electricity use, to promoting solar power, recycling food scraps and other waste, strengthening biodiversity corridors, revegetating river banks, securing our future water supply, building drought resilience in our farming sector and preparing residents for climate-induced disasters such as bushfires and floods.
