04 Feb, 2021

Climate Active city goal achieved

The corporation of the City of Adelaide is now carbon neutral certified through Climate Active.

The City of Adelaide’s 2019/20 business operations have been certified as carbon neutral by the Australian Government – delivering on the target established by Council in 2008 to be carbon neutral by 2020.

Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said that as a city committed to environmental leadership, the City of Adelaide is playing its part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change.

“The City of Adelaide today joins a group of over 150 leading organisations in Australia who are carbon neutral – including Telstra, NAB, and Cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane,” said the Lord Mayor.

“The Adelaide Festival is now a carbon neutral event, and there is a growing number of local companies following suit.

“We began measuring and managing our carbon emissions in 1995 and, in 2008, we set a target to be a carbon neutral corporation by 2020.

“In the process of becoming carbon neutral we have achieved operational efficiencies and reduced costs, that ultimately benefit our community and ratepayers.”

The City of Adelaide now has a long-term 100 per cent renewable electricity contract for all operations, that is saving money while creating regional jobs. Council has been undertaking significant improvements to its buildings’ energy efficiency over the last decade. Collectively, upgrades in ten buildings saved Council over $600,000 in the 18/19 financial year, with savings continuing each year.

Large solar arrays have been installed on eight buildings, including several UParks, Adelaide Central Market, the Council Depot and heritage listed Town Hall building. Council’s first fully electric plug in passenger vehicle was recently purchased – adding to a number of hybrids and electric carts already used by its outdoor teams.

The Climate Active process provides a trusted benchmark, showing we are committed to transparency and putting in the hard work for genuine emissions reductions.

There’s still more to do – a big future focus will be on improved recycling and resource recovery and the community is invited to view Council’s website to see how it’s tracking as an organisation.

Visit our Reducing council emissions page to learn more.

Matt Halliwell