Climate Change
Climate change is already affecting the Mount Barker District through rising temperatures, increased bushfire risk, more frequent extreme weather events, and growing pressure on infrastructure, ecosystems and community wellbeing. As one of South Australia’s fastest growing regions, there is an urgent need for Mount Barker to both reduce emissions and strengthen resilience to protect people, assets and services now and into the future. Proactive climate action also creates opportunities to improve liveability, support innovation and economic growth.
Read the Climate Change Action Plan 2026-2030 here
The actions in this Plan contribute to Council’s 2035 climate targets, including:
- Reducing Council emissions by at least 60% from 2023 levels on a pathway to net zero by 2050
- Supporting a reduction in community emissions to under 164,000 tonnes CO₂e per year by 2035
- Treating priority climate risks to Council operations and services to acceptable levels
What is Council doing to address climate change?
Council is tackling climate change by:
- Educating our community about climate change and what to do
- Planning for water conservation and reuse
- Monitoring and reducing our energy consumption where possible - from our buildings, fleet and through our procurement policies and procedures
- Creating a climate resilient open space network by using appropriate species and increasing the tree canopy cover
- Working with others in the region
- Implementing the Climate Change Action Plan
Corporate Energy and Emissions Reduction Plan (CEERP)
In September 2024, Council endorsed a Corporate Energy and Emissions Reduction Plan (CEERP). The Corporate Energy and Emissions Reduction Plan details Council’s current emission sources and provides a number of energy and emission reduction recommendations, including setting an emission reduction target.
Key current work includes:
- Electricity Contract Power Purchase Agreement – since July 2025 approximately 70% of Council’s electricity has been from solar or wind
- Building Battery Program – to assess the options for council facilities. This a key opportunity to increase the use of renewable energy onsite and improve the reliability of these facilities when there are interruptions to the electricity grid.
Climate Emergency
In 2019, Council supported a motion to declare a climate emergency. The declaration states that Council recognises that we are in a state of climate emergency, requiring urgent action from all levels of government, including local government and that it commit to both mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change through prioritised implementation of the Climate Change Action Plan and Environment and Sustainability Strategy.
Reducing community greenhouse gas emissions - what can you do?
The Snapshot Climate tool provides an overview of community-wide emissions sources in the district, highlighting the relative contribution of transport, agriculture, residential and commercial energy use.
Homes for Tomorrow
Homes for Tomorrow is a consumer-targeted marketing campaign that has been developed in partnership with other councils to help provide information and tools to the consumer market to inform decision making when building or renovating a home.
The campaign aims to encourage people building a new house or renovating to consider options that increase the comfort, health, affordability and sustainability of their homes.
Visit the Homes for Tomorrow website for more information and our Eco-Friendly Building webpage for information on building eco friendly homes.
Resilient Hills and Coast Climate Partnership
Resilient Hills and Coasts is one of six current Regional Climate Partnerships of South Australia. Council has been a Resilient Hills and Coasts partner since 2014. The partnership works collaboratively and with a variety of other stakeholders to progress climate action through the delivery of the Regional Climate Action Plan. The Plan identifies five focus areas of: Resilient and Biodiverse Landscapes, Climate Ready Housing, Community Resilience, Climate Risk Management, and Telling the Story.
More information is available on Resilient Hills & Coasts website.
Food Systems Project
Since 2021 Council has been working with other local Councils, Green Adelaide, Landscapes Hills and Fleurieu, Wellbeing SA, Heart Foundation, the Food Embassy and others to better understand the ways and extent to which the current food system influences economic, social and environmental outcomes for the community. This has included support for the Hills and Fleurieu Local Food Futures project which brought together councils, producers and community partners to explore a more resilient, locally connected food system.
More information on regional food systems projects can be found through the links below.