City of Newcastle rallies community to power ahead toward cleaner energy future

More than 2500 local and regional governments from around the world are invited to come together tomorrow to exchange ideas on how to electrify communities to fight climate change, create local jobs, and make the air cleaner for future generations.

As a long-standing member of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and Chair of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy Oceania, Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes will host the virtual webinar on Friday 29 July.

Clean energy advocate Dr. Saul Griffiths will steer the conversation by illustrating the positive climate and economic outcomes possible with rapid electrification. As an engineer, scientist and inventor, Dr Griffiths helps Fortune 500 companies understand energy infrastructure and decarbonisation, has been a principal investigator for NASA, and has advised US President Joe Bidden on climate change.

Cr Nelmes said by leading such an important conversation she aims to promote positive solutions, influence sustainability policy and drive action amongst local and regional communities.

“Globally, this is a critical decade for action on climate change and local communities are at the forefront of responding to challenges that will be faced in the future,” Cr Nelmes said.

“It takes collective action, commitment, and leadership to meet the challenges of a climate emergency, to take advantage of the economic opportunities from meeting emissions targets and create a net zero emissions city.

"As a leader in this space, City of Newcastle (CN) is delivering its adopted Climate Action Plan 2021-2025, which sets out a roadmap for achieving emission reduction within its operations.

"This includes the development of a Fleet Transition Plan to target zero emissions from vehicles for 100% of the fleet by 2030.

“By joining more like-minded local and regional governments that are also committed to sustainable urban development initiatives, we look forward to sharing ideas and solutions on ways we can help create systemic change for our respective communities.”