City of Launceston council is already working towards becoming more sustainable, but a newly-adopted motion is set to take it to another level.
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On Thursday, the council became the first council in the state to unanimously declare a climate emergency. Two other councils in the state have also declared emergencies, but have had some councillors not support it.
The Launceston motion was put forward by councillor Nick Daking. It called for the implementation of an action plan to become 100 per cent carbon neutral by 2025, the implementation of an action plan to move towards 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025 and to engage and work with the community, business and not-for-profit sectors to reduce community emissions.
The council will also write to state and federal parliamentarians to voice its declaration of an emergency.
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As a result of Thursday's motion, the council has called for an audit into the council's current impacts, general manager Michael Stretton said.
"Specific initiatives will be identified as part of that work," he said.
"The City of Launceston has oversight of a range of relevant issues in Northern Tasmania like public street lighting, stormwater management, waste and recycling management, and energy requirements in our major regional facilities; we therefore have many levers that can potentially be pulled in the future."
The council has already implemented a number of strategies to help reach those targets.
These include capturing methane gas at its Mowbray landfill site, its Food Organics Garden Organics service for green waste, the installation of electric vehicle recharging stations and LED street lighting.
Solar panels have been installed at the Launceston Aquatic Centre, along with smart energy systems installed at many of its facilities.
About 30 councils across Australia have declared a climate emergency. City of Hobart and Kingborough councils are the only other Tasmanian councils to declare an emergency. Break O'Day Council has debated the topic twice.
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