Councils are being invited to trial a new tool that will help inform decisions about carbon cutting initiatives.

A six-month pilot will centre on the Cities Activity Database, which contains data on 13,000 climate activities taken by more than 800 cities around the world.

It’s the first time the database has been made available to local government in Australia.

Councils will be able to use the data to find information about the emissions reduction potential, effectiveness and cost of council projects.

The pilot is a joint initiative of the Cities Power Partnership and consultants Ironbark Sustainability, which is providing the data base.

The Cities Power Partnership is using participation in the trial as carrot to get councils to join up to the CPP network, as councils need to be signed up to be eligible to take part.

Participating councils will get free access to the data base as well as a short report on actions being taken by similar cities and towns.

The report will include insights into the costs of interventions, potential for carbon abatement and likelihood of community acceptance.

“Councils will get free tailored data-driven advice on the pledges they should make as part of their membership with the Cities Power Partnership,”  CPP director Portia Odell told Government News.

“This advice will provide insights into the types of initiatives that have been the most successful for similar councils.”

Dr Odell says many councils are motivated to reduce their emission but often cite lack of accurate or accessible advice as a key barrier.

“This pilot program is an opportunity to provide this advice to councils and leverage expertise from around the globe,” she said.

Councils that sign up to the CPP must pledge five actions to reduce emissions locally via renewable energy, efficiency, transport and partnershps.

The partnership currently has more than 145 members.