Carbon Neutral Adelaide Action Plan Consultation

About

Carbon Neutral Adelaide Action Plan 2016-2021 released

The State Government’s consultation on what it will take to make the City of Adelaide carbon neutral saw more than 550 South Australians putting forward their ideas.

Feedback showed South Australians see great benefits to Adelaide becoming carbon neutral, including the health benefits from reduced pollution and a more active lifestyle, and a greener city attracting more tourists.

This feedback, combined with advice from experts inside and outside of government, has helped shape the Carbon Neutral Adelaide Action Plan.

The Carbon Neutral Adelaide Consultation Summary report is now available here  (PDF 2.3MB).

Opportunities for contribution and involvement in Carbon Neutral Adelaide will continue. If you would like to be involved in the future please contact climatechange@sa.gov.au to be added to the mailing list.

We asked visitors at the Adelaide Central Markets pop up session: ‘Do you think making Adelaide carbon neutral is a good idea?’. Hear what community members had to say.

Check out the other videos here.

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Date closed: 31 July 2016

Have your say and get involved in how we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make the City of Adelaide the world’s first carbon neutral city.

What is being decided?

Climate change presents significant challenges for South Australia. South Australia’s Climate Change Strategy 2015-2050 provides a call to action to address the challenges of climate change.

One of the six goals of the Strategy is for the City of Adelaide to become the world’s first ‘carbon neutral city’. This is a joint initiative of the State Government and the Adelaide City Council.

Becoming the world’s first carbon neutral city provides a platform to attract investment to the city and the state, create opportunities for local business and build its reputation as a clean, green and prosperous city. Employment in green innovation and sustainable business will grow as Adelaide is embraced as a real-world proving ground for next generation technology and transport for the future.

To support the move to carbon neutrality, the Government of South Australia and the Adelaide City Council are developing the Carbon Neutral Adelaide Action Plan 2016-2020. The action plan will outline the current carbon emissions profile for the City of Adelaide, the key measures and pathways required for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the opportunities that exist for action and unlocking economic opportunities, as well as State Government and Adelaide City Council commitments.

The SA Government and Adelaide City Council want to work with all city users to achieve this ambitious goal. We want to hear from business, industry and people that live, work, study or visit the City of Adelaide about how we can work together to become carbon neutral.

How can your input influence the decision?

We want your input into the development of the action plan.

The plan will outline what actions need to be taken to achieve carbon neutrality for the City of Adelaide, how we can support everyone to take action and specific commitments of the South Australian Government and Adelaide City Council to achieve this task.

What does this mean? We want your input! We want to hear how as a city we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also make our city more liveable – it could be in our Park Lands, our CBD, as well as cultural, entertainment and recreation opportunities.

Opportunities for action are in the following six areas:

• How we can build partnerships and encourage community action
• Improving energy efficiency in our buildings
• Working towards zero emissions transport
• Increasing renewable energy use
• Reducing waste emissions
• Offsetting carbon emissions

The City of Adelaide can only become carbon neutral if we all work together.

How will your input be used?

Your input will help inform the Carbon Neutral Adelaide Action Plan 2016-2020, which will be released later this year. Through this engagement opportunity, you can influence how South Australians respond to the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the City of Adelaide.

The final Action Plan will be endorsed by the Government of South Australia and the Adelaide City Council.

This consultation is part of the Carbon Neutral Adelaide initiative to become the world’s first carbon neutral city. There will be further opportunities for you to be involved as we progress, through specific programmes or projects like the Adelaide to Zero Carbon Challenge, the Sustainable City Incentive Scheme, CitySwitch and many others. 

Timeline

• Submissions are open until 5:00 pm, Friday 29 July 2016
• Throughout July, pop in sessions will take place in the Adelaide Central Market, Topham Mall, City Library, and other locations across Adelaide.

How can you take part?

The Carbon Neutral Adelaide initiative is both an environmental imperative and an economic opportunity, and we want everyone to be involved.

View Carbon Neutral Adelaide: A shared vision for the world’s first carbon neutral city to understand what has happened so far with Carbon Neutral Adelaide.

Join the discussion by clicking on one of the online discussions below. The questions we are exploring are:

• What would it take for the City of Adelaide to become carbon neutral?
• What benefits would occur from the City of Adelaide being the first carbon neutral city?
• What benefits could the City of Adelaide being carbon neutral bring to your business/ school/ service /institution?
• What would you need to access to measure your contribution to a Carbon Neutral Adelaide?
• What would help you to contribute to the City of Adelaide becoming carbon neutral?

For general enquiries, or if you would like to be further involved in the process, please email climatechange@sa.gov.au.

Background

What is Carbon Neutral Adelaide?

The Government of South Australia and Adelaide City Council have formed a globally unique partnership to establish the City of Adelaide as the world’s first carbon neutral city. The Carbon Neutral Adelaide initiative is both an economic opportunity and an environmental imperative, and we want everyone to play our part.

The partnership will achieve carbon neutrality whilst driving economic and employment opportunities. Importantly, the City of Adelaide will be transformed into a vibrant, sustainable 21st-century city and will become a global test bed for innovative technologies.

The city has decoupled greenhouse gas emissions from economic growth, which has seen a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions while increasing the city’s GDP by 28% and increasing residential growth by 27%, all since 2007. The city is leading by example and will continue to reduce emissions in City Council and government operations.

South Australia is already making the transition to a low carbon economy. South Australia’s Climate Change Strategy 2015-2050 provides a framework for action to maximise the state’s opportunities for renewal and transformation. It sets a target for the state to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The ambition to make Adelaide the world’s first carbon neutral city forms one of the six pillars of the strategy.

What is ‘carbon neutral’?

A community, place or activity is ‘carbon neutral’ if it is effectively emitting net zero greenhouse gases. Achieving carbon neutrality involves balancing greenhouse gas emissions with activity that removes emissions from the air, such as tree planting and storing carbon underground.

Previous Engagement

South Australia’s Low Carbon Entrepreneur Prize and the Adelaide to Zero Carbon Challenge initiative recently sought ideas and innovative solutions from South Australia and around the world that could be implemented in Adelaide to cut greenhouse gas emissions, generate new green businesses for the state and ensure Adelaide is a showcase city for renewables and clean technology.

Last year, we engaged with the South Australian public to inform the development of South Australia’s Climate Change Strategy 2015-2050. As part of this engagement, we asked you for ideas on actions that government, industry and the community could take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the City of Adelaide and create economic opportunities for the state.

The next component of the engagement is about involving the community of Adelaide, its workers, businesses and residents, in how everybody can participate and contribute to the goal of making Adelaide the world’s first carbon neutral city.

Our Shared Vision

In delivering the Carbon Neutral Adelaide Partnership, the Government of South Australia and Adelaide City Council will realise the following vision for our city:

The City of Adelaide will be the world’s first carbon neutral city. Adelaide will build its reputation as a clean, green, and prosperous city. Our community will capitalise on the significant economic and environmental benefits of a swift and well-planned transition to a low carbon economy.

Economic opportunities in green, innovative and sustainable businesses will grow as Adelaide is embraced as a real-world proving ground for next-generation technology and transport for the future, attracting investment and building influence.

High performance buildings with green walls and roofs will help cool the city, be powered by renewable electricity and support efficient use of resources, will attract more residents to live and work in the city.

The Carbon Neutral Adelaide Partnership will enable Adelaide to grow into a more vibrant city boasting a comprehensive network of cycleways and lively public spaces. More people will live and work in the city, without compromising its grace, space and charm.

Encouraging walking and cycling, combined with a low-emission public transport system, will reduce private car usage. Electric and hybrid vehicles will be preferred in the city.

Adelaide will be internationally recognised as a city that demonstrates that a progressive urban centre can transition successfully to a low carbon economy and reap the rewards of prosperity, liveability and desirability for future generations.

FAQ: Why the world's first carbon neutral city?

Becoming the world’s first carbon neutral city provides a platform to attract investment to the city and the state and create opportunities for local business. By leading the way we will demonstrate our capability, enhance new-economy jobs and industries, export our clean products and services to the world and enrich the liveability of our city.

Our shared vision for the city is a substantial task that will require changes to be made to metropolitan Adelaide’s transport and waste management systems and the state’s energy supply.

Our goal of carbon neutrality signals a clear direction to businesses and residents of South Australia and establishes a commitment to playing our part in limiting climate change to below two degrees of global temperature increase, as agreed globally at COP21 in December 2015, the UNFCCC Conference of Parties held in Paris.

South Australia faces an ever-present climatic challenge with droughts, floods and fires that have made us resilient and resourceful. We’re well versed in adapting to our environment, and becoming the world’s first carbon neutral city will enhance our adaptation ability.

FAQ: What is the Carbon Neutral Adelaide boundary?

The Carbon Neutral Adelaide area follows the entire Adelaide City Council municipal area as outlined in the downloadable map (PDF, 6MB).

FAQ: What is the City of Adelaide’s Carbon Emissions?

The City of Adelaide undertakes regular inventories of the greenhouse gas emissions for the Adelaide City Council area. This identifies where the key emissions come from. The city uses the global Greenhouse Gas Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories to undertake the inventory.

In 2013 the carbon emissions of the City of Adelaide were 939,532 tonnes. Emissions were primarily from energy use in buildings, transport and waste.

City of Adelaide emissions profile 2013, by sector