What is a Zero-net Emissions organisation?
ELS target to be a zero-net emissions organisation by 2041.
The Environment and Liveability Strategy 2017 sets a target for council to be a zero-net emissions (ZNE) organisation and for the community to be low carbon by 2041.
Being zero-net emissions (or carbon neutral) means the net greenhouse gas emissions associated with an organisation or local government's activities are equal to zero. This is why council is working towards lowering its greenhouse gas emissions through:
- Waste
- Transport
- Energy
- Procurement
Over the next year council is working towards developing a Zero-net Emissions Plan to guide how we will achieve this target of a zero-net emissions organisation.
In the meantime council has been measuring council's performance on environmental sustainability and reports on it annually through the Organisational Environmental Sustainability Benchmarking Report. The report shows trends and changes by comparing this year's performance against previous years and from a baseline. It helps to monitor our journey to reduce council's greenhouse gas emissions, a key performance measure in the Corporate Plan 2020-2024.
There are a range of activities that are currently being undertaken to reduce our emissions which are demonstrated in the case studies of the Organisational Environmental Sustainability Benchmarking Report 2020/21.
In addition to understanding our own emissions, council has also commenced the process to measure community greenhouse gas emissions to provide a benchmark and detailed inventory that will support future action.