It’s one of the most important reports of the year. When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released their report on the impacts of our lives on the environment recently, it caused plenty of reflection within government departments and organisations.

Apolitical members thought deeply about the report, too. Here’s what they told us they’re doing in response to it.

Response 1:

We have developed an Accept, Act Adapt 2020-2030: Climate Action Plan for the Wet Tropics.

To read more, go here.

Response 2:

Cambridge City Council has launched Climate Change Strategy 2021-2026 to encourage citizens, organisations and businesses to reduce carbon dioxide emission and work together to make the city net-zero carbon. Cambridge City Council recently published its fourth Climate Change Strategy 2021-26 which sets out the council’s vision for Cambridge to be net-zero carbon by 2030 and details six key objectives to address the causes and consequences of climate change:

  • Reducing carbon emissions from City Council buildings, land, vehicles and services
  • Reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions from homes and buildings in Cambridge
  • Reducing carbon emissions from transport in Cambridge
  • Reducing consumption of resources, reducing waste, and increasing recycling in Cambridge
  • Promoting sustainable food
  • Supporting Council services, residents and businesses to adapt to the impacts of climate change

The council also looks forward to the full report of the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Independent Commission on Climate in the Autumn and taking action together with partners across the county.

Read more here.

Response 3:

Our organisation has developed organisational strategies to address climate change and increase sustainability and resilience in the organisation. Being an educational institution, we embed sustainability teaching and learning in the curriculum, research activities are framed with sustainability and SDGs in mind, organisational administration and management are changed to increase energy efficiency and decrease carbon emissions in all the activities of the organisation and finally, we engage with community and policymakers to understand and influence climate change actions.

Read more by clicking here and here.

Response 4:

My department was doing very little. I left the federal public service in Australia to work in a startup called Evalue8 Sustainability, which measures the greenhouse gas emissions of organisations by linking to their accounting software, produces reports to enable them to track their emissions over time, and identifies potential areas for energy savings to help them save money while joining the fight against climate change.

State, territory and local governments in Australia are taking the need to reduce emissions sharply before 2030 seriously, as are a great many private and for-purpose organisations in Australia.

I would have been more comfortable if my department had been aiming to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 and to net-zero by 2050. However, with the Australian elected government not having signed up to any targets, there was no pressure on my department to do so, and the senior executive would have been out of line with government policy if they had chosen to take action (which means they would have been replaced).

I’ve stayed connected to Apolitical because it helps Evalue8 Sustainability serve its government clients more effectively. I have other colleagues in the private sector that have made the same choice for the same reasons.

— The Apolitical Community

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