Global leaders will have a chance to see Australia’s initiatives to reduce carbon emissions at an international gathering of leading sustainability experts this week.

Sydney Mayor Clover Moore will present the city’s sustainability initiatives at the C40 cities climate summit, which is being co-chaired by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former US President Bill Clinton and with World BankGroup President Robert Zoellick as a keynote speaker.

Examples of programs which have been developed through the C40 participation include legislation passed in Toronto and recently in NSW to enable joint financing by tenants and owners of environmental retrofits of commercial buildings.

Sydney initiatives to be outlined at C40, being held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, include:

  • LED street lighting
  • Trigeneration energy systems
  • Water recycling projects.

The theme of the fourth C40 summit is Climate Change and Cities: Mitigation, Adaptation and Challenges.

Representatives of 45 cities are taking part including Athens, Berlin, Bueno Aires, Delhi, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Lima, Los Angeles, London, Melbourne, Moscow, New York, Paris, Rome, Seoul and Warsaw.

Sustainable Sydney 2030 strategy has set a greenhouse gas reduction target of 70 per cent from 2006 levels by 2030.

Moore said: "It aims to achieve the target by energy efficiency measures, sourcing 70 per cent of electricity from local low carbon trigeneration energy systems and 30 per cent from renewable energy sources, such as solar and renewable gases extracted from waste,"

"Trigeneration systems will supply clusters of city centre buildings with electricity, heating and cooling, reducing carbon emissions by 40 to 60 per cent. They run on natural or renewable gases and will replace electricity from coal fired powerstations, which currently produce 80 per cent of Sydney's carbon emissions."

Sydney's sustainability initiatives include:

  • Reduced carbon emissions from council buildings by 17 per cent from 2005/06 through building retrofits, LED lighting and optimising building operations;
  • Reduced water consumption by nearly 40 per cent over the last eight years by retrofitting council buildings, parks and pools with dual flush toilets, tap aerators and rainwater tanks;
  • Increase the amount of household waste diverted from landfill from 36 to 66 per cent by next year using advanced waste treatment facilities to recover recyclables and compost;
  • Planned trigeneration project to install low carbon energy systems on council buildings and commercial properties in city centre to cut energy costs and carbon emissions by 40 to 60 per cent by 2030;
  • Planned $12 million solar photovoltaic (PV) installation across council properties, one of the largest in Australia, to cut carbon emissions by about 3,000 tonnes a year, equal to taking 750 cars off the road, and reducing power bills by $500,000;
  • Planned rollout of LED lighting for the City's 8500 street lights, which use $3.5 million of electricity each year, following successful trial which reduced energy use by 50 per cent.