THE City of Greater Bendigo nearly doubled its greenhouse gas emissions in the same decade it was supposed to halve them.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The council was aiming for 4942 tonnes of carbon dioxide every financial year by 2020 but overshot it by 12,676 tonnes in 2018-19, its latest annual environmental activities report shows.
What is more, it nearly doubled its emissions last year because of blowouts in electricity and gas use in its buildings as well as rising petrol costs.
The council says the most significant part of the rise was because of the Gurri Wanyarra Wellbeing Centre in Kangaroo Flat.
The indoor pool was responsible for 15 per cent of the council's 17,618 tonnes of emissions in 2018/19.
Last financial year's figures do not include increasing emissions from the Eaglehawk Landfill as it handled more waste instead of transporting it to another landfill in Patho, near the New South Wales border, the report stated.
The council has reduced its street lighting emissions from 6283 tonnes of carbon dioxide to 3422 tonnes in the nine years to June 31.
The region is facing a fire future unlike anything Australians have known for the past 200 years, a November report from the Climate Council found.
It found the fire season is getting longer and that heatwaves are getting more intense.
The council acknowledges that local governments need to take the lead in efforts to drive down greenhouse gas emissions and that climate change is posing increasing challenges for decision makers across every sector of the economy, the report stated.
It and the Mount Alexander Shire are among councils which last year sharpened wording on the challenges climate change posed.
Mount Alexander councillors declared a climate emergency in December, while their Bendigo counterparts passed a resolution in August for "urgent action to address the environmental and climate breakdown that poses serious future risks to the health and wellbeing of the people of Bendigo".
That resolution called for an internal report on greenhouse gas emissions across council's operations by 31 December, which was completed that month.
It also requires the next budget to contain plans to help deal with the risks climate change is expected to pose in coming years.
However, a solution to the emissions blowout could be found sooner.
The Bendigo council is one of 43 preparing a bid to buy renewable energy in bulk in the largest deal of its type in Australia.
The so called "power purchase agreement" would help Bendigo reach its 50 per cent renewable energy target by driving down the amount of coal-fired power used in its buildings, the report stated.
"It is expected the project will deliver greenhouse gas emissions reductions equivalent to 32,000 households," the report stated.
That deal is expected to be finalised by March this year.
The power purchase agreement could also be a significant step in the council's bid to use 100 per cent renewable energy by 2036, the report stated.
The Mount Alexander Shire's climate emergency declaration tied the council to reducing its net emissions to zero by 2025.