Methodology to develop and implement the Newcastle Emission Reduction Plan
Emission Sectors
GHG Emission reduction planning and implementation is a complex task. To ease the complexity, emissions were divided into sectors. These sectors were identified through the availability of emission data and ease of stakeholder analysis. Emission data was obtained primarily from the Snapshot Community Climate Tool by Ironbark Sustainability and Beyond Zero Emissions.
For the purposes of this project, the following sectors were identified: Transport (19%) Waste (5%) Residential (16%) Commercial (18%) Industrial (42%) where:
Residential consists of Residential/Household Electricity (14%) & Gas (2%).
Commercial consists of Commercial/Business Electricity (16%) & Gas (2%)
Industrial consist of Industrial Electricity (34%), Gas (3%) and Industrialprocesses & product use (5%)*
* The emission sector percentages were calculated based on 2020/2021 data from the Snapshot community climate tool (Ironbark Sustainability and Beyond Zero Emissions, 2022).
Sector Emission Reduction Strategies
For each Emission Sector an Emission Reduction Strategy document will be prepared for later incorporation into the overall Newcastle Emission Reduction Plan.
Each Emission Sector Strategy document consists of:
A strategic policy context - this contains details of the latest GHG emissions, Legislation, Policies and Plans that exist that involve emission reduction in that sector.
Key Issues
Case Studies
Strategic opportunities to lower sector emissions and Future Scenarios. These will include planned actions and city-wide commitments to rapidly reduce carbon emissions.
These strategies will be collated into an overall draft Emission Reduction Plan.
Emission Sector Working Groups
Working groups will be formed for each emission sector from Government/Council, Business, Community and Industry.
The working group will be responsible for the development of the Emission Reduction Strategy for their Sector and for the presentation of the Strategy at the Climate Summit.
Each working group will have a co-ordinator from the Newcastle Emission Reduction Plan project team to assist and report back to the project coordinator.
Emission reduction idea capture
Ideas for emission reduction will be solicited from the public and stakeholders. These will be captured through a web form, at stakeholder and public presentations of the Emission Reduction Plan project, and through stakeholder meetings.
The following detail will be captured for each idea:
The idea itself.
Contact details of the who is proposing the idea and their organisation (if any).
The appropriate emission sector identified for each idea.
Links to evidence and case studies
List any people / organisations that would be involved in this idea.
Where possible the appropriate Local Council lever identified for each idea. Local councils have many levers that can either directly and indirectly influence emissions in their local communities. 100% Renewables (2021) identified nine levers that councils can utilise to influence reducing emissions within their communities either directly or indirectly. For more detailed information on each of these levers click here...
Please note that the project team are also interested in existing initiatives where emissions are being reduced or planned on being reduced within the Newcastle LGA.
Emission reduction idea analysis
Identified ideas will be directed to the appropriate Emission Sector working group. Analysis of ideas will utilise the Research Action Process of the Hunter Community Alliance / NSW Alliances.
Which emission reduction ideas to include?
Selection of an idea for inclusion in the appropriate sector’s emission reduction strategy will utilise the Kepner Tregoe decision analysis. Kepner Tregoe (KT) decision analysis provides a framework for making logical decisions.
Climate Summit
Collate sector strategy documents into draft emission reduction plan. Prior to the Summit, each sector emission reduction strategy will be incorporated into the draft Emission Reduction Plan.
Presentations Each sector emission reduction strategy will be presented at the summit, including presentation of the key findings. A common template will be used in the development of the presentations. An overall presentation of the Emission Reduction Plan will also be presented. Table Talks Table Talks will be conducted for each Emission Sector Strategy to get feedback and commitment from key stakeholders and the public. This will utilise Hunter Community Alliance / NSW Alliances Table Talk methodology (Example of use here…).
Harvest Learnings Outcomes from the Table Talks include:
Identification of leaders
Build relational power
Invitation to action - either individual or opportunities for collective action
Updates to the strategies and plan based on feedback
Post - Climate Summit
Finalise Emission Reduction Plan Following the Climate Summit the sector strategies and emission reduction plan will be updated based on feedback.
The project stakeholder list will be updated with any additional leaders identified at the Climate Summit.
Following review by the project team, the completed plan will be published on the website and submitted to Council for consideration (Please note that Council will be involved throughout the project).
The completed plan will also be made available to project sponsors where required.
Implementation Monitoring and Review
Actions identified in the Plan will be implemented through business, community, industry, government and local council initiatives and programmes.
Progress on the implementation of actions in the plan will be monitored and their effectiveness in reducing emissions measured.
Focus on Climate Mitigation rather than Climate Adaptation
As climate change is now a clear and present danger to our society and the natural world, both mitigation and adaptation are now necessary. However, the less we choose to mitigate today, the more adaptation we’ll need later and the less effective adaptation will become and the greater the divide will be between those that can afford adaptation and those that cannot (Rojas, 2019).
The focus of this Plan is working to address the root cause of the problem of climate change through Climate Mitigation rather than dealing with its effects. It is suggested that a separate parallel process be initiated to plan cross-sectoral climate adaptation actions with a focus on inclusivity and flexible approach within Newcastle. For more information...
Aim for Real Zero and Don’t Settle for Net Zero
The Newcastle Emission Reduction Plan framing is ‘Real Zero’. Many organisations have set ‘Net Zero’ targets which allow creative carbon accounting: promising that today’s carbon overspend will be paid off by future generations through expensive and as-yet unproven (at scale) negative emissions technologies. For us ‘Net Zero’ can imply inaction and the privileging of emissions for sectors, which has huge equity implications. Our focus is on how to reduce emissions from Transport, Waste, Industry, Business and Households to ‘Real Zero’ to prevent catastrophic climate change.
Kepner, C. and Tregoe, B. (1965). 'The Rational Manager.' McGraw-Hill Book Company. Mind Tools Content Team. (n.d.). The Kepner-Tregoe Matrix: Making Unbiased, Risk-Assessed Decisions. MindTools. Retrieved 15 June 2023, from https://www.mindtools.com/atznth6/the-kepner-tregoe-matrix
