Today, Jillian Broadbent AO, Chair of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, has outlined the positive role the CEFC has played in cities policy.
Ms Broadbent was addressing the GreenCities 2015 conference in Melbourne, as part of a panel on creative change.
Ms Broadbent stated:
“Accessible finance can be an issue, but the CEFC has worked with NAB, ANZ and Commonwealth Bank to establish loan products that cover the upfront cost of upgrading to improve energy productivity across the sector.
“We’ve also helped establish programs for access to solar PV generated energy at agreed prices from companies that install own and operate rooftop Solar PV systems on the premises.”
The CEFC, an organisation the Abbott Government is seeking to abolish, is providing the leadership that the Abbott Government has neither the capacity nor inclination to provide for our cities and on climate change.
Cities play a crucial role in combatting climate change. There is massive potential for energy savings through better design of buildings and through retrofitting existing buildings.
Last year, the UN Secretary General, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change – in partnership with the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group – identified some key strategies cities could use to combat climate change.
These included:
Labor has already released a ten-point action plan for better, more prosperous cities aimed at lifting productivity, sustainability and liveability of urban Australia.
It’s time the Abbott Government listened to experts and stakeholders in Australia and from around the world on cities and climate change instead of sticking its head in the sand.