Emissions Reduction Plan

This plan is a comprehensive commitment to emissions reduction action that Council will deliver for its own operations out to 2026. Based on six strategic objectives for our city, this is our detailed plan for our city’s revitalisation and considers the needs of all people who access and experience the City of Melbourne municipality. 

The plan aligns with our climate and biodiversity emergency declaration and sets out crucial actions to reduce the emissions from our activities and operations. The plan commits the City of Melbourne to 72 actions across 8 priority areas which will keep it on course for net zero emissions by 2040.

Maintaining an emissions reduction strategy is part of our obligations as a certified carbon neutral organisation under the Australian Government's Climate Active program. As a leader in climate action, the City of Melbourne is committed to measure additional emissions sources as the plan progresses. These include more major events and embodied carbon in our capital works projects, which generally sit outside our reporting boundary. 

The Emissions Reduction Plan for Council Operations 2021-26 supersedes our previous plan from 2016-2021, which contributed to a 76 per cent reduction in operational emissions from our 2011-12 baseline year. In 2019–20 our total operational emissions were 12,345 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, a 76 per cent reduction from 2011–12 when we generated 52,059 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. 

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The Emissions Reduction Plan is one part of our response to the climate and biodiversity emergency. Find out more about the accelerated actions we’re taking to respond and how we are already acting on climate change. 

Key priorities

This Plan describes the actions we will take to reduce emissions from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2026 in eight areas:  

1. Carbon Neutral Events
2. Zero carbon for our buildingsOpens in new tab
3. Measure and minimise embodied carbon in design and construction  
4. Carbon neutral goods and servicesOpens in new tab
5. Zero carbon corporate transportOpens in new tab
6. Towards Zero Waste for council operations
7. Low emissions subsidiaries
8. Tell City of Melbourne’s Climate Change Story