Reducing council emissions
City of Adelaide is serious about its sustainability goals and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The City of Adelaide has been measuring and reducing carbon dioxide for several years. As a result, the council has achieved carbon neutrality for its operations for financial years 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Being ‘carbon neutral’ is measuring greenhouse gas emissions accurately, reducing emissions as much as possible, and purchasing accredited offsets that contribute to global efforts to address climate change. In FY2025, Council has stopped the purchase of offsets and will no longer be participating in Climate Active certification. Council continues to improve efficiency and invest in technology to reduce direct emissions, as part of our on-going journey.
Progress Snapshot within Council
- 100 per cent renewable electricity contract providing equivalent electricity use of around 3,800 homes
- Introduction of 20 fully electric vehicles to the fleet – more than 60 per cent of light passenger vehicles
- Introduction of a Hino-SEA fully electric truck to the fleet in 2022
- 1.1 MW of solar power providing electricity equivalent to over 300 homes, or 12 per cent of Council building demand
- Recognised as a global climate leader through CDP reporting
- Internal waste sorting system including green organic waste pickup
Tracking Council carbon emissions
City of Adelaide corporate emissions inventory
The City of Adelaide tracks all the greenhouse gas emissions that is it responsible for producing, whether directly or indirectly every year. The ‘emissions inventory’ is calculated in accordance with the Climate Active Carbon Neutral Standard.
The breakdown of Council’s current greenhouse gas (carbon) emissions by source shown in the dashboard below. You can explore and learn more by clicking on the tabs and charts, to see where carbon emissions are generated in the City of Adelaide.
Things to note:
- For Climate Active certification, 2018/19 was the base year for measurements, however, efficiency actions and solar power installations started years before this.
- Our new base year for measurements is FY2020, as we track our progress on our Integrated Climate Strategy goal for a 75 per cent reduction by FY2030. In FY2024, we have reduced emissions by 54 per cent from the FY2020 base year.
- In 2020/21 City of Adelaide started a renewable electricity contract which approximately halved our footprint.
- During the Covid pandemic, some facilities were closed at times, which also contributed to lower emissions from electricity and gas.
- Explore the trends for individual buildings via the maps on Tab 2, including traffic lights and streetlights, and see the impact of switching to renewable electricity.
We continue to work on reducing our operational carbon emissions through a variety of mechanisms, including sustainable procurement procedures, waste diversion and resource recovery, and fleet management.
By comparison, other Australian capital cities that have pursued carbon neutrality had the following footprints in FY2023:
| City | Area | Greenhouse accounts |
|---|---|---|
| City of Adelaide | 16 km2 | 12,459 t CO2e (2022–2023) |
| City of Melbourne | 37.7 km2 | 12,175 t CO2e (2022–2023) |
| City of Sydney | 26.15 km2 | 13,515 t CO2e (2012–2023) |
| Brisbane City Council | 1,342 km2 | 665,491 t CO2e (2022–2023) |