News

Australian cities could halve carbon emissions by 2030

14 August 2009

A new study has revealed Australian cities could halve their greenhouse gas emissions over the next 20 years if they implement a plan similar to the City of Sydney’s Sustainable Sydney 2030.

The research commissioned by the City of Sydney and presented to a meeting of Capital City Lord Mayors today shows a targeted strategy to reduce carbon emissions in Australia’s capital cities has the potential to slash emissions by 48 million tones (MT) in the year 2030 and result in a cumulative emissions reduction of 540MT between 2010 and 2030. That is roughly equivalent to the annual total emissions from the whole of Australia in 2008, including all sectors – energy, industry, waste and agriculture* – or as the research says, the equivalent of Australia being carbon zero for a year.

The emission reductions modelled are four times greater than independent analysis has predicted will be achieved across all of Australia’s buildings as a result of the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS).

The Centre for International Economics Australia estimates residential and commercial buildings are responsible for 23% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

"The report shows that if Australian cities implement measures like those in our Sustainable Sydney 2030 plan, we could collectively halve emissions in our cities within 20 years, making a very significant contribution towards reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions," said Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP.

"The City of Sydney has a comprehensive plan in place to reduce our emissions by 70% by 2030, using integrated actions and mature technologies including tri-generation, building retrofits, simple transport improvements and renewable energy. These real and tangible proactive changes are already underway in other Australian cities too, and need to be reflected in Australia’s commitment to national targets in Copenhagen."

"While we acknowledge the benefits and targets set by the CPRS, this report shows there is real scope to significantly increase national targets," Ms Moore said. "Capital City Mayors today agreed to further develop this research before Copenhagen."

The report concludes that this sort of targeted city action could achieve a quarter of the Governments current unconditional commitment.

Media Contact: Jeff Lewis 0401 994 008 or jlewis@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au.

Source: City of Sydney