We are working hard to reduce our emissions and are currently implementing our five-year
Emissions Reduction Plan with a strong focus on building efficiency, rooftop solar and street lighting upgrades.
Through financing of up to $30m from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation we have invested in upgrading thousands of street lights to energy efficient LED bulbs, more efficient council and community buildings and extensive rooftop solar installs. City of Melbourne now has 1372 solar panels installed across our facilities, powering nearly a megawatt in electricity.
All remaining emissions must be offset for the City of Melbourne to be carbon neutral certified. To do this we invest in projects that reduce or absorb greenhouse gas emissions of equal value to what we produce, made available through the carbon offset market.
Read more about the
carbon offset projects we have invested in, and for more details on how we achieve carbon neutral certification, see the
public disclosure summary below.
We will continue to strive for best practice approaches to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and will prioritise emissions reduction through improvements to our operations over purchasing offsets.
Visit our Sustainable Business Guide to find out what your organisation can do to reduce its emissions.
Carbon offset purchases 2017-18
What do a wind farm, cook-stoves, habitat protection and savannah-burning all have in common?
They are all helping the City of Melbourne remain carbon neutral.
To achieve carbon neutral certification in 2018, City of Melbourne invested in a renewable energy projects in China and India, avoided deforestation in Peru, energy efficient cook stoves in Mali, habitat regeneration in New South Wales and Indigenous savannah burning practices in the North Kimberley region of Australia.
We also sought to maximise a range of other social, economic and environmental outcomes, or co-benefits, aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Additional benefits include local employment and alternative income streams, improved health conditions, education opportunities, biodiversity retention and reinvigorated Indigenous cultural traditions.
Carbon offsets in the Australian market are limited and significantly more expensive than some offsets available overseas. Recognising that human induced climate change through increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is a global issue, the City of Melbourne balanced costs through a selection of Australian and International carbon offsets, to both support the local market and achieve carbon neutrality.
Read more about the projects we are supporting: