In a series of four articles, I have discussed the Australian Critical Infrastructure Risk Management Plan, the New South Wales (NSW) Climate Risk NSW Guide, and how the Byron Shire Council and the Hawkesbury City Council used the NSW Climate Risk Guide to develop their climate risk management policies and approach. This piece looks at how the Shire of Hornsby NSW is attempting to manage climate risks. What makes their approach different is not in its use of the NSW Climate guide, but in its focus on another aspect of climate risk – sustainability.

Sustainable Hornsby

Sustainable Hornsby is under pinned by two documents. These are Sustainable Hornsby 2040 and Sustainable Policy for Council Assets May 2022.  These documents are the product of the actions and policies of a larger collection of local governments which are emphasizing sustainability. This collective goes under the nomenclature of Resilience Sydney. There are about 100 local governments worldwide linked to Resilience Sydney. They ascribe to roughly the same policies. Sustainable Hornsby 2040 reflects these policies and objectives, while the Sustainable Police for Council Assets directs specific actions to meet the Shires net zero carbon and energy efficiency goals.

Sustainable Hornsby 2040

The foundation of Sustainable Hornsby 2040 is the definition of sustainability used by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development. That definition is:

“Sustainability is the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (1)

Overlaying this foundation are five Council principles. The principles are:

1. Delivering multiple benefits – In ecological systems, everything is inter-connected. Delivering in one area can deliver and amplify multiple benefits to the community.
2. Innovative and creative – To be sustainable Council must drive innovation and creativity.
3. Leadership- the Council has chosen to take a leadership role on sustainability because it embraces its responsibility to future generations of Hornsby residents.
4. Building partnerships – Achieving our targets will require a new approach and there will be many challenges along the way for which we do not year have all the answers.
5. Knowledge sharing – Council will share our knowledge and learn from our Indigenous Australian community, scientists, technical experts, and our community. (2)

Having stated the principles, the Council identified seven general themes and goals. These are:

1. Waste Matters – will ensure better waste management.
2. Biodiversity Conservation – will ensure biodiversity is well managed, resilient, and adaptable to land-use change.
3. Urban Forest- will have a healthy, thriving, diverse and valued urban forest.
4. Water Sensitive – will have a thriving Shire whose management of water and the environment supports clean waterway, stainable resource use and a healthy lifestyle connected to nature.
5. Climate Wise -will mitigate our actions and achieve zero net emissions by 2050.
6. Walking and Cycling/Active Transport – will create accessible, continuous, and safe walking and cycling networks that connect everyday destinations easily.
7. Natural Hazards – will assist our community and natural environment to develop a high level of resilience, to better withstand shocks and stress and have an enhanced ability to recover. (3)

Based on the principles and the goals, the Council using the Climate Risk Assessment approach, recommended in the Climate Risk NSW Guide, identified Key Issues. Among them are:

• 45 percent of all municipal waste is recovered and diverted from landfill.
• Twelve Threatened Ecological Communities exist with the Hornsby Shire.
• Stormwater flows continue to adversely affect the health and function of our creeks and waterways.
• Climate change means that Hornsby will experience a greater number of extreme heat days, more bushfires and more extreme weather events such as storms.
• 35 percent of all Council emissions come from street lighting and 35 percent from electricity.
• 59 percent of all community emissions come from electricity and 27.7 percent from transport. (4)

Recognizing the issues, the Council decided to take the following actions.

• Reduce Council’s corporate green house gas emissions to 3.2 percent below the 2018 levels by 2025, 53 percent below 2018 levels by 2030 and net zero by 2050.
• Reduce Council’s and the community’s vulnerability to a changing climate and implement adaptation measures associated with temperature, to days, average rainfall, wind, fire weather, sea-level rise, and rain intensity.
• Install energy efficient LD street lighting.
• Improve fleet performance and transition to low emission vehicles, electric vehicles, and new technology hybrid vehicles.
• Provide electric vehicle charging stations.
• Improve energy efficiency of Council buildings.
• Increase diversion of waste from landfill.
• Implement actions from Council’s Climate Change Risk Assessment. (5)

Sustainable Hornsby 2040 provides the strategic vision, principles, goals, and the general actions to be taken. The specific actions and requirements to meet the energy efficiency and net zero carbon goal are laid out in the Sustainable Policy for Council Assets.

Policy for Council Assets

The policy was adopted on May 11, 2022. The aim of the policy is to:

“Contribute to Councils target of net zero emissions by 2050 and lead by example in increasing the energy and water efficiency of Council assets, install renewable energy generation, reduce the embodied energy of materials used and support the circular economy through reuse and recycled materials.” (6)

The sustainability policy covers all Shire assets. These include:

• Buildings and other structures.
• Bushland and natural assets.
• Parks, landscapes, and recreational assets.
• Roads, car parks and footpaths.
• Storm water drainage.
• Traffic facilities, road signs and traffic barriers.
• Waste Assets.
• Water quality assets. (7)

To meet the policy aim, all Shire future projects must indicate how they will do the following:

• Incorporate passive solar design to maximize daylighting and passive heating and cooling opportunities.
• Incorporate energy efficient equipment and design to minimize lighting and minimize active heating and cooling requirements.
• Optimize opportunities to use renewable energy sources and incorporate renewable energy technologies wherever possible.
• Ensure hot water systems are energy efficient electric systems (e.g., heat pumps).
• Comply with minimum WELS star rating, dependent on appliance type as specified in Appendix 1.
• Transition away from gas to all electric buildings.
• All major buildings must provide efficient control and effective maintenance systems that incorporate monitoring of energy consumption.
• Include installation of a Building Maintenance System. (8)

Appendix 1 specifies the energy efficiency standards each appliance or equipment must meet. For instance, for Water efficiency the following must meet the specified Water Efficiency Labeling Scheme (WELS).

• Showerheads – 3.5 stars
• Toilets and urinals – 4 stars
• Washing machines – 4.5 stars
• Dishwashers – 5 stars
• Taps and flow control devices – 5 stars.

Appliances and equipment purchased by the Shire must meet the following Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards. For example,

• Refrigerators -2.5 stars
• Washing machines 3.5 stars
• Pool pumps 7.5 stars
• Televisions – 5 stars

While the above is just a partial list of the equipment and the energy efficiency requirements the new equipment must meet, it indicates the actions the Shire in taking with its assets to reach the goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Conclusion

Where Sustainable Hornsby 2040 is the strategic vision of how the Shire will work to become sustainable, the Sustainable Policy for Council Assets details the requirements going forward on how council assets are to be managed to meet the Council’s sustainable objective. In both cases the objectives are clearly articulated and in the case of the equipment energy performance requirements very detailed. It is this level of detail which separated Hornsby Shire’s approach to climate risk management from that of the Byron Shire and the Hawkesbury City Council’s approach. All three clearly identify the issues and risks associated with climate change. Only Hornsby has gone to the level of detail in addressing its own assets and how action on that front can assist in achieving a net carbon goal.

If there is one area where Hornsby could improve, consistent with the sustainability objective, it is in critical infrastructure. The Commonwealth, in the Australian Critical Infrastructure Risk Management Plan, specifies that organizations with critical infrastructure must identify the risks to their critical infrastructure and have a plan to mitigate that risk. Byron Shire, with respect to its Stormwater infrastructure, has identified the risk and specified adaptation actions. Hornsby, even though it recognizes the problem with stormwater flows, has not.

The point is not to criticize, but to emphasize that both the Commonwealth and New South Wales have published manuals on how local government can develop comprehensive climate risk management policies which will mitigate climate related risks.  Both documents, when used in conjunction, provide an excellent model for local government worldwide who are struggling with climate related risk management.

Endnotes

1. Hornsby Shire Council, 2021, Sustainable Hornsby 2040, page 8, https://j4m014.p3cdml.secure-sever.net/wp-content/uploads,2021/05/sustainabil-hornsby-2040-final230221.pdf.
2. Ibid page 7.
3. Ibid page 6.
4. Ibid page 11.
5. Ibid page 29.
6. Hornsby Shire Council 2022, Sustainable Policy for Council Assets, May 11, page 2, https://hscenquiry.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/temp/001_006X_OMY706LL3BB_YKOCSNHB.PDF.
7. Ibid page 3.
8. Ibid page 4.

 

James J. Kline has worked for federal, state, and local government. He has over ten years of supervisory and managerial experience in both the public and private sector.  He has consulted on economic, quality and workforce development issues for state and local governments.  He has authored numerous articles on quality and risk management. His book “Enterprise Risk Management in Government: Implementing ISO 31000:2018” is available on Amazon.  He is the editor of “Quality Disrupted’ which is available on Amazon.