Australia is often criticised for its slow action when it comes to climate change. We hold the dubious title of the highest carbon emitters per capita in the developed world and were rather sluggish to become involved with a carbon tax. That being said, a huge change is being undertaken in this country, and although we had a slow start, it is safe to say that Australia has an incredibly strong green presence.
This point has been overwhelmingly brought home yet again, as Sydney achieves the incredible feat of becoming Australia’s first carbon neutral city. While the City of Sydney has for some time now shown a carbon track record to be proud of, the Lord Mayor Clover Moore has announced that the city is finally carbon neutral.
A Sydney with zero carbon emissions?
The idea seems completely unrealistic, but through incredibly innovative means they have reached carbon neutral status under the National Carbon Offset Standard. The magic word is ‘offset’, without which the city would not be classified as such. The idea of a carbon offset is achieved by buying carbon credits through the construction and use of green technologies.
This fits into the council’s three-part plan, which was devised in 2008 in order to reach their current net zero status. This includes four key elements of ‘measure, avoid and reduce, switch green and offset’.
The first step has been achieved by creating a complete running inventory of all of the city’s energy usage and carbon emissions. It works as a dual process, both offering to inform goals and targets, as well as offering to verify claims of carbon neutrality.
The second step includes a total downsizing of energy consuming technologies and moves to retrofit ‘brown’ spaces. The step also includes a focus on energy efficient means through LED street lighting and further community energy efficiency projects.
Switching to green and offsetting are two steps that have merged into one, the latter relying on the former. The carbon offset has been reached through key technologies such as wind farms and $12 million worth of solar panels projects; credits accumulated through the application of these green practices offsetting the city’s actual carbon emissions.
This has amounted to a 210,000 tonne reduction in carbon emissions due to offsets and the implementation of the energy efficient practices mentioned above.
This is, however, not the end for Sydney. Although they have reached their current goals the Lord Mayor has made it clear that this is one of many achievements that Sydney hopes to obtain.
“We are on track to reach one of the most ambitious emissions reduction targets of any Australian government – 70% by 2030 from 2006 levels” Moore says.
Latest released statistics show that if the rest of Australia were to follow suit a drop of 40% in carbon emissions towards long term climate change could be achieved.
