ACT Enviro Minister Simon Corbell to be opening speaker at Renewable Cities Australia Forum

The Australian Capital Territory’s Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for the Environment Simon Corbell will be the keynote speaker at Australia’s inaugural Renewable Cities Australia Forum, which will be held alongside the Australian Energy Storage Conference & Exhibition in Sydney on 1-2 June 2016.

The purpose of the forum is to bring together decision makers, policy influencers and business leaders from Australia’s urban areas with the aim of fostering dialogue around three focus areas of power generation and use – communities, buildings and transport – in order to foment real change on the ground.

Renewable Cities Forum 3 topics

The decision to have Mr Corbell open the Forum is both symbolic and highly appropriate; he is widely viewed as a champion for clean energy – and has the track record to prove it.

The ACT is a recognised national (and global) leader when it comes to renewable energy deployment and carbon emissions reduction plans, and Mr Corbell and the ACT government have received accolades for the Territory’s aggressive policies.

Recently, ACT government took the step to raise its 2025 Renewable Energy Target from 90% to 100%, and its clean energy ‘reverse auctions’ have proved to be popular and effective mechanisms for driving uptake of various cutting-edge renewable energy projects.

“As leaders in the renewable energy field, the ACT is reaping the environmental and economic benefits of decarbonisation. Not only are we providing clean power for the people of Canberra, we are also delivering jobs and economic benefits by securing $400 million in local investment through our reverse auction process. Being powered by 100 per cent renewables by 2020 places Canberra at the lead, both in Australia and internationally, of cities taking effective action on climate change,” Mr Corbell said.

In addition to being a major backer of renewables, Mr Corbell is also largely responsibly for the development of the Capital Metro light rail project – Canberra’s first urban light rail link.

Attendees of the Australian Energy Storage Conference will have free access to all of the talks and presentations at the Renewable Cities Australia Forum. A full list of speakers can be found on the Renewable Cities Forum’s website.

© 2016 Solar Choice Pty Ltd

Jeff Sykes