Your business is considering a net-zero commitment or maybe you have just committed to net-zero emissions – so what’s next? An important part of making this commitment or of developing a net zero plan is to work out what this goal will encompass. To ensure that you are setting a credible target and to avoid reputational damage, you should be very clear in your communications what boundary your net-zero goal relates to.
A net-zero goal can relate to your operational emissions only, or it can extend to your supply chain. It could relate to your whole organisation, or only to part of it.
In this article, we will focus on whether you should include scope 3 emission sources.
Should you include scope 3 emission sources?
If you are reporting under compliance-based schemes such as the NGER legislation in Australia, you will probably be aware of your scope 1 and scope 2 carbon footprint.
Please watch the video below for an explainer of scope 1, 2 and scope 3 emission sources.
However, there are many more emission sources that happen upstream and downstream in your supply chain. For many companies, more than 80% of their emissions occur outside of their own operations[1]. So, if you focus your net-zero efforts on your scope 1 and scope 2 carbon footprint only, you will neglect to address the many emission sources you have in your value chain.
Please watch the video below for an explainer of the 15 categories of scope 3 emissions.
Determining which scope 3 emission sources are relevant for you
Not all of the 15 categories of scope 3 emission sources will be relevant for you. The following is a good checklist, which we have adapted from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol:
Is the emission source large relative to your scope 1 and scope 2 emissions?
Does the emission source contribute to your greenhouse gas risk exposure?
Do key stakeholders such as customers or investors deem the emission source critical?
Could you reduce the associated emissions or at least influence emission reduction?
Steps you could take to determine what’s in and out of your scope
The following is a list of suggestions for how you could determine what’s in and out of your net-zero goal:
Have a meeting with key organisational stakeholders to workshop all your emission sources
Discuss whether these emission sources are relevant for your organisation as per the above checklist
If the emission source is relevant, you could consider including it in your net-zero goal
How you could workshop your emission sources
To ensure that no significant scope 3 emissions sources are lost, we recommend that you go through all 15 categories. Here is how we do it at 100% Renewables:
We usually start by showing emissions sources associated with your organisation’s activities. In most cases, this consists of scope 1 and scope 2 emission sources such as the burning of fossil fuel onsite, or the consumption of electricity. Where you operate air conditioning or refrigeration equipment, fugitive emissions from hydrofluorocarbons should also be taken into account.
Figure 1 – Scope 1 and scope 2 emissions sources
Then, we show you upstream and downstream emissions in your value chain, such as shown below.
Figure 2 – Full value chain emissions sources
Usually, category 1 ‘Purchased goods and services’ is a large emissions source – just ask your Finance department for a General Ledger extract of your expenses and you’ll see what we mean.
It is considered best practice to include upstream fuel and energy, and you should assess whether emissions from outsourced transportation and distribution, such as couriers are relevant to you. Every organisation is generating waste, so that should be included as well. Business travel encompasses activities such as air travel and accommodation. Staff commuting is also an important emissions source, particularly if people mostly use cars to get to your place of work.
Where your products generate emissions when they are being used (say you were selling vacuum cleaners), then you should consider the relevance of this emission source as well. If you have investments in joint ventures, subsidiaries or similar that are not accounted for under scope 1 and 2, you could consider also including them in your scope 3 carbon footprint.
If you need help with your net-zero goal, defining the scope or planning to reach net-zero, please contact Barbara or Patrick.
Feel free to use an excerpt of this blog on your own site, newsletter, blog, etc. Just send us a copy or link and include the following text at the end of the excerpt: “This content is reprinted from 100% Renewables Pty Ltd’s blog.
100% Renewables would like to congratulate the City of Canada Bay Council, who has committed to net-zero emissions, on winning the Local Government NSW’s (LGNSW) Excellence in the Environment Awards’ Local Sustainability Award.
100% Renewables is proud to have developed two studies which informed the City’s Emissions Reduction Action Plan (ERP), specifically:
Emissions pathway study – Council operations
Emissions pathway study – Community
How Council developed its Net-Zero Emissions Reduction Plan
Canada Bay Council tasked 100% Renewables with the development of two technical studies to understand how emissions can be reduced for both Council operations and the community.
The technical studies of the ERP drew on extensive analysis of Council’s emissions profile, population and urban density projections, renewable energy trends, stakeholder engagement, as well as an assessment and prioritisation of savings opportunities.
As part of this project, a community survey was run, and two workshops were held to gauge the community’s perspective on what Council and the community should prioritise with regards to climate change and reducing emissions. We also performed site visits across Council’s facilities and ran workshops with Council staff and the Environmental Advisory Committee to get input into the development of the two studies.
Target-setting approach
Council was committed to setting climate action targets which considered Australia’s global emission reduction obligations, goals set by other councils in NSW, as well as input from the community and Council staff. The ERP sets out the following ambitious, but achievable carbon reduction and renewable energy goals.
Corporate target: Net-zero emissions from Council operations by 2030
Community target: Net-zero emissions from the City of Canada Bay community by 2050
The pathway to net-zero for Councils operations
The pathway to net-zero emissions for Council’s operations is supported by 62 cost-effective actions that Council can take to reduce its corporate emissions, which include:
Continued energy efficiency upgrades to buildings and sporting fields, including fuel switching
Street lighting upgrades to LED technology
Increasing the amount of energy generated from onsite solar PV systems
Adjusting practices, basic controls and O&M procedures to reduce energy waste such as high night-time demand
Fleet emissions reduction from hybrid vehicles, and in future potentially electric vehicles
Adopting sustainable procurement policies for all capital works and purchases of energy-using equipment
Increasing the amount of renewable energy sourced via power purchase agreements (PPA)
The pathway to reducing Council’s corporate emissions to net-zero is illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Pathway to net-zero by 2030 for Canada Bay Council’s operations
The pathway to net-zero for community emissions
Alongside the target for Councils operations, a target of net-zero emissions by 2050 for the community was set by consulting the community. Council will assist the community in achieving its target by
Leading by example
Empowering the community through initiatives and programs about buying renewable energy and energy efficiency
Supporting local community groups and schools to install solar PV systems
Advocating for sustainable transport and engagement around waste initiatives
These initiatives and programs were quantified and broken down into 33 discreet actions to reduce emissions to net-zero, as illustrated in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Pathway to net-zero emissions by 2050 for the Canada Bay community
Canada Bay’s success in reducing carbon emissions
The City has a long history of emission reduction and climate change adaptation programs. Some of these initiatives are listed below:
Greenhouse Action Plan 2014, which highlighted 70 actions that Council could invest in to reduce emissions. The plan also suggested targets such as replacing traditional energy supply with alternative renewable sourced by 2020.
Community Energy Efficiency Program (CEEP) 2014 saw Council invest in major energy efficiency upgrades across four of Councils largest energy consuming sites. Collective outcomes after the completion of the CEEP saw energy use and carbon emissions decrease by almost 32%, and energy costs reduce by almost 25%.
Small sites LED upgrade saw LEDs replacing existing lighting across six sites resulting in a combined energy reduction of 20%.
Installation of 134 kW of solar PV at Concord Library, City Services Depot and the Civic Centre
Implementation of LED lighting at several sporting fields as part of refurbishment and new field activation works
In October 2018 Council committed to purchasing 20% of its total electricity consumption from the Moree Solar Farm for 11.5 years commencing 1 July 2019
Council is participating in the SSROC Residential Road Street Light LED Replacement Program in partnership with Ausgrid. The current spot replacement program will be augmented by an accelerated bulk upgrade program in the short term.
Offsetting of emissions from major Council events such as Ferragosto and Concord Carnival
In the Canada Bay community, there has also been a significant increase in emissions reduction by residents installing solar panels on houses and businesses. At the time of development of the ERP, less than 10% of dwellings in the Canada Bay LGA had solar installed, with the total capacity being 8,490 kW as of September 2019. A year later, the solar capacity had improved significantly to 12,321 kW, which is a 45% increase.
Canada Bay Council is one among many leading councils showing that achieving ambitious renewable energy and carbon reduction goals is both feasible and cost-effective. 100% Renewables is proud to have played a role in helping this leader through the development of their Emissions Reduction Plan. We look forward to Canada Bay Council’s continued success in reaching its carbon and renewable energy targets in the coming years.
Net-Zero Case study “Canada Bay Council and Community – Emissions pathway” Start Download
100% Renewables are experts in helping organisations develop their climate action strategies, and supporting the implementation and achievement of ambitious targets. If you need help to develop your Climate Action Strategy, please contact Barbara or Patrick.
Feel free to use an excerpt of this blog on your own site, newsletter, blog, etc. Just send us a copy or link and include the following text at the end of the excerpt: “This content is reprinted from 100% Renewables Pty Ltd’s blog.
Despite the increased focus on climate change in the last few years and the milestone Paris Agreement, global greenhouse gas emissions have not reduced, and the emissions gap between where we should be and where we are is larger than ever.
As you can see figure 1 below, which is being updated regularly by Climate Action Tracker, without additional efforts, human-caused carbon emissions may increase to over 100 billion tonnes annually by 2100, which is double current global emissions.
You can see a simpler version of this graphic in figure 2. The main driver of long-term warming is the total cumulative emissions of greenhouse gases over time. In the past decades, greenhouse gas emissions have been increasing.
Figure 2: Global warming projections, 100% Renewables
Due to all historical and current carbon emissions, global temperatures have already risen by about 1°C from pre-industrial levels.
Continuing with business-as-usual could result in a temperature increase of over 4°C.
If all countries achieved their Paris Agreement targets, this could limit warming to roughly 3°C.
However, to limit warming to 1.5°C, current Paris pledges made by countries are not enough.
Carbon emissions need to start to decline rapidly in the near future and reach net-zero by mid-century if we are to have a chance of keeping warming to 1.5°C.
To bridge this ambition gap, not only do governments need to act, so do businesses and communities. To keep temperature increase within safe levels, you need to track along the 1.5-degree line, and to do that, you should set yourself carbon reduction goals in line with science. For every one year of failed action, the window to net-zero is reduced by two years.
It’s time to take a stand on a global stage and act on climate change. So what are three steps you can take?
Set a target in line with science
Develop a climate action plan
Reduce emissions in your business and your value chain
I recorded a 3-min video of a presentation on this topic I recently held for one of our clients, which you can watch here:
100% Renewables are experts in helping organisations develop their climate change strategies and action plans, and supporting the implementation and achievement of ambitious targets. If you need help to develop your Climate Change Strategy, please contact Barbara or Patrick.
Feel free to use an excerpt of this blog on your own site, newsletter, blog, etc. Just send us a copy or link and include the following text at the end of the excerpt: “This content is reprinted from 100% Renewables Pty Ltd’s blog.
Science tells us that we need to reach net-zero emissions by midcentury to limit global warming to 1.5°C and to reduce the destructive impacts of climate change on human society and nature. In Australia, more and more local governments and communities are demonstrating climate leadership by committing to ambitious carbon or renewable energy goals. This trend is also reflected at state and territory level. As of 9 July 2020, every single Australian state and territory has a formal target to reach net zero by 2050.
Please see below a video, which shows the timeline of ambitious climate commitments of local governments from 2017 to 2020.
In this update, we present a graphic with state and territories commitments. We also show state-by-state commitments by capital cities, local governments and communities. We also cover memberships by local governments of the Cities Power Partnership, CEDAMIA, the Global Compact of Mayors, and C40.
States’ and territories’ climate change commitments
States and territories are committing to both renewable energy as well as carbon reduction targets. Most targets are in line with the Paris Agreement, which means that zero net emissions have to be reached by mid-century to avoid catastrophic climate change.
Further information
If you are interested in learning more about what it means to set targets in line with the Paris Agreement, please read our blog post on ‘Science-based targets in a nutshell’.
STATE OR TERRITORY
RENEWABLE ENERGY COMMITMENT
CARBON COMMITMENT
Australia
~20% from renewable energy sources by 2020 (33,000 GWh by 2020)
(Target achieved)
26-28% emissions reduction from 2005 levels by 2030
NSW
20% from renewable energy in line with the RET
35% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on 2005 levels by 2030
Zero net emissions by 2050
NT
50% renewable energy by 2030
Zero net emissions by 2050
SA
50% renewable energy production by 2025
(Target achieved in 2018)
Zero net emissions by 2050
TAS
100% renewable energy by 2022
200% renewable energy by 2040 (expected to be legislated in 2020)
Commitment to establish a zero net emissions target by 2050
QLD
50% renewable energy by 2030
Zero net emissions by 2050
VIC
25% renewable energy by 2020
40% renewable energy by 2025
50% renewable energy by 2030
Figure 1: Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by states and territories as at Sept 2020
Capital cities’ climate change commitments
Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane have been carbon neutral for many years and soon, they will be joined by Adelaide. The ACT Government has strong carbon reduction targets in place, while Perth has only committed to a carbon reduction target of 20%. Hobart doesn’t have any official targets but has a strong history of carbon reduction initiatives.
Exciting developments are that from January 2019, Melbourne and the City of Newcastle have been powered by 100% renewable energy, which was soon followed by the City of Sydney and Hawkesbury Council.
100% renewable electricity by 2020
40% reduction in GHG emissions from 1990 by 2020
50-60% reduction in GHG emissions from 1990 by 2025
65-75% reduction in GHG emissions from 1990 by 2030
90-95% reduction in GHG emissions from 1990 by 2040
Net zero emissions by 2045
Adelaide
100% renewable from July 2020
Zero net emissions from council operations by 2020
Zero net carbon emissions by 2025 for the community
Brisbane
Carbon neutral council from 2017
Melbourne
100% renewable energy from 2019
Carbon neutral from 2012
Net zero emissions for the LGA by 2040
Sydney
100% renewable energy for council operations by 2021
Carbon neutral from 2008
Reduce emissions by 70% for the LGA by 2030
Net zero emissions for the LGA by 2040
Local governments – ambitious commitments
The following table showcases ambitious carbon and energy commitments by capital cities and local governments and their communities. ‘Ambitious’ means that commitments need to be in line with science. If a local government is committing to the same goal as the state or territory jurisdiction it falls under, it is not considered ambitious, as it is implied that the local government will decarbonise consistent with state or territory policies. Please note that in future updates to this list, we will only report on net-zero targets ahead of 2050.
The following tables are split into renewable energy commitments and carbon reduction commitments.
65-75% reduction in GHG emissions from 1990 by 2030
Net zero emissions by 2045
NSW
Bathurst Regional
50% of council’s electricity consumption to be from renewable sources by 2025
NSW
Bega Valley Shire Council
Net zero emissions, with interim target
of 100% renewable electricity by 2030
NSW
Bellingen Shire Council
100% renewable energy by 2030
45% carbon reduction by 2030 (based on 2010 emissions levels)
Zero net emissions by 2040
NSW
Blacktown City Council
Net-zero GHG emissions from electricity, fuel and gas by 2030
NSW
Broken Hill Council
100% renewable energy status by 2030
NSW
Blue Mountains City Council
Carbon neutral by 2025
NSW
Byron Bay Council
100% renewable energy by 2027
Net zero by 2025
NSW
Central Coast Council
60% emissions reduction of Council emissions (below 2017/18 levels) by 2022 and 85% by 2028
NSW
City of Canada Bay
Net zero emissions by 2030
NSW
City of Newcastle
100% renewable electricity from 2020
NSW
City of Ryde
100% renewable energy by 2030
NSW
Coffs Harbour City Council
100% renewable energy by 2030
50% reduction in emissions (on 2010 levels) by 2025
NSW
Dubbo Regional Council
50% renewable energy by 2025
NSW
Eurobodalla Shire Council
100% renewable energy by 2030
NSW
Federation Council
Electricity neutral (i.e. generating electricity
equal to, or greater than its consumption) by
June 2025
NSW
Hornsby Shire Council
32% emissions reduction from 2018 by 2025
53% emissions reduction from 2018 by 2030
NSW
Inner West Council
100% renewable electricity by 2025
Carbon neutral by 2025
100% divestment from fossil fuel
NSW
Georges River Council
100% renewable target by 2025
Net zero carbon emissions by 2025 or as soon as practicable
NSW
Ku-ring-gai Council
Achieve 100% renewable energy by 2030, whilst pursuing efforts to reach this target by 2025
Net zero emissions by 2040, or earlier, and a 50% reduction, by 2030
100% reduction in fleet emissions by 2040
NSW
Kyogle Council
25% electricity from on-site solar by 2025
50% renewable electricity by 2025
100% renewable electricity by 2030
NSW
Lismore City Council
Self-generate all electricity needs from renewable sources by 2023
NSW
Nambucca Council
Zero net carbon emissions within the 2030 to 2050 time frame
NSW
Northern Beaches Council
All suitable sites being powered by renewable electricity by 2030
Net zero emissions by 2045
60% reduction in carbon emissions by 2040
Aspiration to achieve net zero emissions by 2030
NSW
Parramatta Council
Carbon neutral by 2022
NSW
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council
100% renewable energy by 2027
NSW
Randwick Council
100% renewable by 2030 for stationary and transport energy
Zero emissions by 2030
NSW
Sutherland Shire Council
Carbon neutral by 2030
NSW
Sydney
100% renewable energy for council operations by 2021
Carbon neutral from 2008
NSW
Tweed Shire Council
25% less electricity related carbon emissions (as tonnes CO2-e) than 2016/17 by 2022
50% less electricity related carbon emissions (as tonnes CO2-e) than 2016/17 by 2025
Net zero emissions by 2030
NSW
Waverley Council
70% reduction of Council emissions (2003/04 levels) by 2030
Carbon neutral by 2050
NSW
Willoughby City Council
By 2028 emit 50% less GHG emissions from operations compared with 2008/09
Achieve net zero emissions by 2050
NSW
Wollongong Council
Aspirational emissions reduction target of zero emissions by 2030
QLD
Brisbane City Council
Carbon neutral since 2017
QLD
Cairns Regional Council
Reduce emissions by 50% below 2007/08 levels by 2020
QLD
Gold Coast City Council
Carbon neutral by 2020
QLD
Ipswich City Council
Carbon neutral by 2021
QLD
Logan Council
Carbon neutral by 2022
QLD
Noosa Council
Net zero emissions by 2026
QLD
Sunshine Coast Council
Net zero emissions by 2041
SA
Adelaide
100% renewable from July 2020
Zero net emissions from council operations by 2020
TAS
City of Launceston Council
100% renewables by 2025
100% neutrality of carbon emissions by 2025
VIC
Banyule City Council
Carbon neutral operations by 2028
VIC
Bass Coast Shire Council
Zero net emissions by 2030
VIC
Bayside City Council
Carbon neutral by 2020
VIC
Brimbank City Council
50% reduction in corporate greenhouse emissions by 2023
VIC
Casey City Council
Carbon neutral by 2040
VIC
City of Ballarat Council
100% renewables by 2025
Zero emissions by 2025
VIC
City of Greater Bendigo
100% renewable energy by 2036
VIC
City of Greater Geelong
100% renewable electricity supply for all City owned and operated buildings and streetlights by 2025
City-managed operations to be carbon neutral by 2025
City-owned light fleet vehicles to be powered by zero-emission sources by 2030
VIC
City of Port Phillip
Zero net emissions by 2020
VIC
City of Yarra
100% renewable electricity since 2019
Carbon neutral since 2012
VIC
Darebin City Council
Carbon neutral by 2020 for both operations and the community
VIC
Frankston City Council
Zero net emissions by 2025
VIC
Hepburn Council
Carbon neutral by 2021
VIC
Hobsons Bay
Reach zero net GHG emissions from councils activities by 2020
VIC
Glen Eira
Net zero emissions from operations by 2025
VIC
Golden Plains Shire Council
Net zero emissions by 2040
50% reduction in Council emissions by 2023
VIC
Macedon Ranges Shire Council
Zero net emissions by 2030-2031
VIC
Manningham
100% carbon neutral by 2020
VIC
Moonee Valley City Council
Zero net emissions by 2020
VIC
Maribyrnong City Council
Net zero corporate CO2 emissions from 2015
VIC
Melbourne
100% renewable energy from 2019
Carbon neutral since 2012 for council operations
VIC
Moreland Council
100% renewable energy by 2019
Carbon neutral for operations since 2012
VIC
Mornington Peninsula Council
Carbon neutral by 2021
VIC
Mount Alexander Shire Council
Carbon neutral by 2025
VIC
Strathbogie Shire Council
Zero net emissions by 2025
VIC
Warrnambool City Council
Zero net emissions by 2040
VIC
Wellington Shire Council
Net zero emissions by 2040
VIC
Wyndham
Carbon neutral for corporate GHG emissions by 2040
WA
City of Bayswater
Corporate renewable energy target of 100% by 2030
Corporate GHG emissions reduction target of 100% by 2040
WA
City of Fremantle
100% renewable energy by 2025
Carbon neutral since 2009
WA
Mandurah
Carbon neutral by 2020
From the list above, 100% Renewables is proud to have developed many of the strategies and plans for councils that have committed to ambitious targets, and/or helped them to deliver on their target, including:
Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by NSW councils and the ACT Government
Figure 2: Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by local governments in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory as at Sep 2020
Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by VIC councils
Figure 3: Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by local governments in VIC as at Sep 2020
Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by QLD councils
Figure 4: Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by local governments in Queensland as at Sep 2020
Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by SA councils
Figure 5: Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by local governments in South Australia as at Sep 2020
Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by WA councils
Figure 6: Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by local governments in Western Australia as at Sep 2020
Community climate change commitments
Until recently, most local governments focused on their own operations by developing targets and actions plans. With the increasing need to rapidly reduce carbon emissions to combat climate change, more and more councils are now looking at how they can lead and facilitate carbon mitigation in their communities.
The following table shows renewable energy and carbon commitments made by local governments on behalf of their community.
Further information
For more information on how to set targets and develop action plans for communities, please have a read of our blog post on setting targets for community emissions.
STATE OR TERRITORY
COMMUNITY
RENEWABLE ENERGY COMMITMENT
CARBON COMMITMENT
NSW
Byron Bay Community
Net zero by 2025
NSW
City of Canada Bay
Net zero emissions by 2050
NSW
City of Wollongong
Net zero emissions by 2050
NSW
Hawkesbury City Council
Carbon neutral LGA by 2036
NSW
Inner West Council
100% of schools have installed solar by 2036
Solar PV capacity is 20 times greater than in 2017 by 2036
Community emissions are 75% less than in 2017 in 2036
NSW
Ku-ring-gai Council
Net zero GHG emissions by 2040
NSW
Lockhart
Plan for town to be powered by renewable energy and operating on a microgrid
NSW
Mullumbimby
100% renewable energy by 2020
NSW
Sydney
Reduce emissions by 70% for the LGA by 2030
Net zero emissions for the LGA by 2040
NSW
Tweed Shire Council
Net zero emissions by 2030
NSW
Tyalgum Village
Plan to be off the grid
100% renewable energy, with batteries
NSW
Uralla Town
Plan to be first zero net energy town
NSW
Waverley Council
70% reduction of community emissions (2003/04 levels) by 2030
Carbon neutral by 2050
NSW
Willoughby City Council
By 2028, our community will emit 30% less GHG emissions compared with 2010/11
SA
City of Adelaide
Zero net carbon emissions by 2025
VIC
Bass Coast Shire Council
Zero net emissions by 2030
VIC
Cardinia Shire Council
36% reduction in per capita community emissions by 2024
VIC
City of Darebin
Zero net carbon emissions across Darebin by 2020
VIC
Healesville
Net zero town by 2027
VIC
Hobsons Bay
Reach zero net GHG emissions from the communitys activities by 2030
VIC
Glen Eira
Net zero emissions from the community by 2030
VIC
Melbourne
Net zero emissions by 2040
VIC
Moonee Valley City Council
Zero net emissions by 2040
VIC
Moreland Council
Zero carbon emissions Moreland by 2040
VIC
Natimuk
100% renewable energy with community solar farm
VIC
Newstead Village
Plan to be 100% renewable
VIC
Warrnambool Council
Carbon neutral city by 2040
VIC
Wyndham
Zero net GHG emissions from electricity use in the municipality by 2040
VIC
Yackandandah Town
100% renewable energy by 2022
WA
City of Fremantle
Zero carbon for LGA by 2025
WA
Perth
32% reduction in citywide emissions by 2031
At this stage, only the NSW and VIC graphics have been split into council operations’ and communities’ commitments. For other states, please refer to the maps in the previous section.
Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by NSW communities
Figure 7: Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by communities in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory as at Sep 2020
Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by VIC communities
Figure 8: Ambitious renewable energy and carbon commitments by communities in Victoria as at Sep 2020
From the list above, 100% Renewables is proud to have developed many of the renewable energy strategies and plans for communities including:
Local governments in Australia that have declared a climate emergency
Local governments are playing a key role in leading the climate emergency response, which is why CEDAMIA (derived from Climate Emergency Declaration and Mobilisation In Action) campaigns for a Climate Emergency Declaration at all levels of government.
CEDAMIA calls on all Australian federal, state, and territory parliaments and all local councils to:
Declare a climate emergency
Commit to providing maximum protection for all people, economies, species, ecosystems, and Civilisations, and to fully restoring a safe climate
Mobilise the required resources and take effective action at the necessary scale and speed
Transform the economy to zero emissions and make a fair contribution to drawing down the excess carbon dioxide in the air, and
Encourage all other governments around the world to take these same actions.
CEDAMIA works in conjunction in conjunction with CACE – Council Action in the Climate Emergency. Step 1 is to declare a climate emergency, and step 2 is to mobilise your community and move into emergency mode. According to CACE, a local government’s key role is to
Lobby state and national governments to adopt and fund full climate emergency response
Encourage other councils to implement a climate emergency response through networks and by leading by example
Have local emergency action through education, mitigation and resilience building
Educating council staff about the climate emergency and what council can do to respond
Local Governments that are members of Cities Power Partnership
The Cities Power Partnership (CPP) is Australia’s largest local government climate network, made up over 127 councils from across the country, representing almost 11 million Australians. Local councils who join the partnership make five action pledges in either renewable energy, efficiency, transport or working in partnership to tackle climate change.
There are dozens of actions that councils can choose from ranging from putting solar on council assets, switching to electric vehicles, to opening up old landfills for new solar farms. The following table shows current local government members of CPP.
STATE
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
ACT
Canberra
NSW
Albury City Council
NSW
Bathurst Regional Council
NSW
Bayside Council
NSW
Bega Valley Shire
NSW
Bellingen Shire Council
NSW
Blacktown City Council
NSW
Blue Mountains City Council
NSW
Broken Hill City Council
NSW
Byron Shire Council
NSW
City of Canterbury-Bankstown
NSW
Central Coast Council
NSW
Clarence Valley Council
NSW
Coffs Harbour
NSW
Cumberland Council
NSW
Dubbo Regional Council
NSW
Eurobodalla Council
NSW
Georges River Council
NSW
Hawkesbury City Council
NSW
Hornsby Shire Council
NSW
Inner West Council
NSW
Kiama Council
NSW
Ku-ring-gai Council
NSW
Lane Cove Council
NSW
Lake Macquarie
NSW
Lismore City Council
NSW
Mosman Council
NSW
MidCoast Council
NSW
Muswellbrook Shire Council
NSW
Nambucca Shire Council
NSW
The City of Newcastle
NSW
https://citiespowerpartnership.org.au
NSW
North Sydney Council
NSW
Orange City Council
NSW
Parkes Shire Council
NSW
City of Parramatta
NSW
Penrith City Council
NSW
Port Macquarie-Hastings
NSW
Randwick City Council
NSW
City of Ryde
NSW
Shellharbour City Council
NSW
Shoalhaven City Council
NSW
City of Sydney
NSW
Tweed Shire
NSW
Upper Hunter Shire Council
NSW
City of Wagga Wagga
NSW
Waverley Council
NSW
Willoughby Council
NSW
Wingecarribee Shire
NSW
Wollongong City Council
NSW
Woollahra Municipal Council
NT
Alice Springs Town Council
NT
City of Darwin
QLD
Brisbane City Council
QLD
Bundaberg Regional Council
QLD
Cairns Regional Council
QLD
Douglas Shire Council
QLD
Ipswich City Council
QLD
Livingstone Shire Council
QLD
Logan City Council
QLD
Mackay Regional Council
QLD
Noosa Shire Council
QLD
Sunshine Coast Council
SA
Adelaide Hills Council
SA
City of Adelaide
SA
Alexandrina Council
SA
City of Charles Sturt
SA
Goyder Regional Council
SA
Mount Barker District Council
SA
City of Onkaparinga
SA
City of Port Adelaide Enfield
SA
City of Victor Harbor
TAS
Brighton Council
TAS
City of Launceston
TAS
Huon Valley Council
TAS
Glamorgan Spring Bay
TAS
Northern Midlands Council
VIC
City of Ballarat
VIC
Baw Baw Shire Council
VIC
Benalla Rural City Council
VIC
City of Boroondara
VIC
City of Darebin
VIC
City of Greater Dandenong
VIC
Hepburn Shire Council
VIC
City of Melbourne
VIC
Mildura Rural City Council
VIC
City of Monash
VIC
Moonee Valley City Council
VIC
Moreland City Council
VIC
Mornington Peninsula Shire
VIC
Mount Alexander Shire Council
VIC
City of Mitcham
VIC
Nillumbik Shire Council
VIC
City of Port Phillip
VIC
Borough of Queenscliffe
VIC
Strathbogie Shire Council
VIC
Stonnington City Council
VIC
Rural City of Wangaratta
VIC
Warrnambool City Council
VIC
Wollongong City Council
VIC
Wyndham City Council
VIC
City of Yarra
VIC
Yarra Ranges Council
WA
City of Armadale
WA
Shire of Augusta-Margaret River
WA
Town of Bassendean
WA
City of Bayswater
WA
City of Belmont
WA
City of Bunbury
WA
City of Busselton
WA
City of Canning
WA
City of Cockburn
WA
Shire of Donnybrook-Balingup
WA
City of Fremantle
WA
City of Gosnells
WA
City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder
WA
City of Kwinana
WA
City of Melville
WA
Shire of Mundaring
WA
Shire of Murray
WA
Shire of Northam
WA
City of Rockingham
WA
Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale
WA
City of Subiaco
WA
City of Swan
WA
Town of Victoria Park
WA
City of Vincent
Local Governments that are members of Global Covenant of Mayors
Global Covenant of Mayors or GCoM is the largest global alliance for city climate leadership. GCoM is built upon the commitment of over 10,000 cities and local governments across 6 continents and 138 countries. In total, these cities represent more than 800 million people. By 2030, Global Covenant cities and local governments could account for 2.3 billion tons CO2-e of annual emissions reduction.
We recently helped the City of Newcastle with their submission to GCoM, so please contact us if you need help with filling in the GCoM questionnaire.
Local Governments that are members of C40
C40 is a network of the world’s megacities committed to addressing climate change. C40 supports cities to collaborate effectively, share knowledge and drive meaningful, measurable and sustainable action on climate change. In Australia, Melbourne and Sydney are members.
If you need help with your own target or plan
100% Renewables are experts in helping local governments and communities develop carbon mitigation and climate adaptation targets, strategies and plans. If you need help with developing a target and plan that takes your unique situation into consideration, please contact Barbara or Patrick.
Please let us know if there are any commitments that are missing, or if any commitment needs a correction. You can contact us for high-resolution copies of the graphics in this article.
Feel free to use an excerpt of this blog on your own site, newsletter, blog, etc. Just send us a copy or link and include the following text at the end of the excerpt: “This content is reprinted from 100% Renewables Pty Ltd’s blog.
There are several terms that describe ambitious climate action targets such as ‘carbon-neutral’, ‘net-zero’ and ‘climate-neutral’, and we are sometimes asked whether these terms can be used interchangeably.
Are the terms ‘carbon-neutral’, ‘net-zero’ and ‘climate-neutral’ the same or are they different?
Whether you are using ‘carbon-neutral’, ‘net-zero’, or ‘climate neutral’ in your goal, they all reflect the same intent to reduce or eliminate your organisation’s impact on the climate system.
In most cases, these terms are and can be used interchangeably, but there are differences in how they are defined and what they are taken to mean in terms of how goals are to be achieved. Let’s have a look at the definitions of the terms first.
How do you define carbon-neutral, net-zero emissions and climate-neutral?
Carbon neutrality, or net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, is achieved when your organisation’s CO2 emissions are balanced globally by CO2 removal, typically over one year.
Definition of net-zero emissions
Net-zero emissions are achieved when your organisation’s emissions of all greenhouse gases (CO2-e) are balanced by greenhouse gas removals, typically over one year.
Definition of climate neutrality
Climate neutrality is achieved when organisational activities result in no net effect on the climate system. In climate-neutral claims, regional or local bio-geophysical effects have to be accounted for as well, such as radiative forcing (e.g. from aircraft condensation trails).
In summary, a carbon-neutral target relates to carbon dioxide only, whereas a ‘net-zero’ goal includes all greenhouse gases, and a ‘climate-neutral’ goals extends to other effects such as radiative forcing as well. For an explanation of the different greenhouse gases and radiative forcing, please read the appendix.
For most companies, carbon-neutral, net-zero and climate-neutral mean the same.
If an organisation releases mainly carbon dioxide, there is not much difference between using the term carbon-neutral, net-zero or climate-neutral.
Also, for most sectors, net-zero emissions and climate neutrality are the same due to the most important climate impact being the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. However, some sectors, such as aviation, should consider other climate impacts from non-CO2 radiative forcing as well.
Examples of carbon-neutral, net-zero and climate-neutral claims
You can see examples of how these targets can be turned into claims in the graphic below. The horizontal axis shows the potential scope of an organisation’s emissions, from CO2-only to climate neutral. The vertical axis shows the scope of activities that are covered, from site level through to the full value chain of an organisation.
Figure 1: Scopes of carbon neutrality, net-zero and climate neutrality. Source: CDP and SBTi.
For examples of how organisations are phrasing their commitments, have a look at the following:
Apple, which is already carbon neutral for corporate emissions worldwide, committed to be 100% carbon neutral for its supply chain and products by 2030. They plan on ‘bringing their entire footprint to net zero 20 years sooner than IPCC targets’.
Climate positive by 2040 throughout H&M Group’s entire value chain.
Climate-neutral supply chain for our manufacturing and processing factories owned or subcontracted by our suppliers as well as our suppliers’ own suppliers (i.e. fabric mills, fibre processors, spinners or tanneries) by 2030.
Reduce scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 40% before 2030 (baseline 2017).
Reduce scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased raw materials, fabric production and garments by 59% per product before 2030 (baseline 2017).
Increase annual sourcing of renewable electricity from 95% in 2017 to 100% by 2030.
In addition to what climate forces are included in targets, there are also different interpretations of how a particular target will be reached.
For example, most people understand a net-zero or a climate-neutral target to mean that a business puts significant emphasis on reducing or mitigating emissions in their own organisation, and will buy offsets to address residual emissions. For many, a carbon-neutral goal is seen as a strategy that mainly relies on the purchase of carbon offsets. In that sense, a carbon-neutral goal can be seen as an interim goal on the journey to net-zero emissions.
Please read the appendix for further information on offsets.
Carbon neutral under Climate Active
Climate Active is a Commonwealth Government program that allows Australian organisations to achieve certified carbon neutral status for their whole organisation, products/services, events and buildings/precincts. Climate Active is a rigorous program which ensures that your climate claim is credible. For more information on this program, please read our three-part blog series- Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
When going carbon neutral under Climate Active, all greenhouse gas emissions must be considered, including your organisation’s emissions, emissions in your value chain, and radiative forcing for flights. In addition, you need to develop a strategy on how to reduce emissions in your organisation, not just offset them.
When committing to be carbon neutral under Climate Active, you can safely assume that your carbon-neutral goal is synonymous with a climate-neutral or net-zero goal in terms of emissions coverage, as shown in the following graphic:
Figure 2: Climate Active carbon-neutral can be interpreted to be the same as net-zero and climate-neutral
Five factors you should consider when setting your climate target
To ensure that you are setting a credible target and to avoid reputational damage, you should be mindful of the following considerations when defining your carbon-neutral/net-zero/climate-neutral target:
Define what greenhouse gases you include in your claim. Only CO2, or all relevant greenhouse gases?
Define what entity is addressed in your claim. Only operational emissions, or also your supply chain? Will you make an event carbon neutral or one of your buildings or products/services?
Define what emission sources form part of your claim. Will you include all carbon scopes or just a select few? Will you perform a materiality assessment across your emission sources to find out which you should include?’
Define the strategy on how you intend to reach your target. Will you use carbon offsets? How much focus will you place on reducing emissions that fall under your operational control? How much focus will you put on reducing emissions in your value chain?
Define the timeframe. Be mindful of setting the year you want to reach your goal at least in line with science. Consider setting yourself an interim carbon reduction target in line with science.
What comes after net-zero?
Reaching net-zero is an important achievement for any organisation, but it is only one step towards stabilising our climate. Beyond net-zero, we need to remove more greenhouse gases than we are adding to the atmosphere.
Ambitious climate change leaders are starting to turn their attention to balancing out their historical emissions, as well as their current and future emissions. They are also beginning to think about becoming ‘carbon-negative’ or ‘climate-positive’, which means that you are removing more GHG from the atmosphere than you are adding to it.
Appendix
What greenhouse gases are there?
When thinking of greenhouse gases, most people would list carbon dioxide as the main culprit. CO2 is indeed the most prevalent greenhouse gas, but according to the GHG Protocol, there are seven greenhouse gases (GHG) that organisations should report on:
Carbon dioxide (CO2), which is mostly emitted by burning fossil fuels
Methane (CH4), which is mostly emitted by growing ruminant animals such as sheep and cows, and from landfills
Nitrous oxide (N2O), which is mostly emitted by growing crops (fertiliser usage) and livestock (manure)
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are mostly emitted by refrigeration equipment
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), which are mostly emitted by the aluminium industry
Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), mostly emitted by switchgear
Nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), mostly emitted in computer manufacturing
Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas due to the vast quantities that are being emitted and due to its long life – hundreds of years – in the atmosphere. Another such ‘long-lived’ GHG is nitrous oxide, at more than 100 years.
Methane, for instance, exists in the atmosphere for a much shorter period, but has a much higher global warming potential than CO2, meaning that this gas causes more global warming per tonne than CO2.
Most fluorinated gases (PFCs, SF6, HFCs) have very high global warming potentials, so small atmospheric concentrations can have disproportionately large effects on global temperatures. They can also last in the atmosphere for thousands of years. And whereas carbon dioxide can be absorbed by growing plants, no living organism needs HFCs in any of their processes.
Most organisations are emitting carbon dioxide as their most significant greenhouse gas.
Aviation contributions involve a range of atmospheric physical processes, including plume dynamics, chemical transformations, microphysics, radiation, and transport, which you can see in the image below. Interestingly, the study reveals that two-thirds of the climate impact from aviation is caused by emissions other than CO2.
Figure 3: How aviation affects the climate system
How can you reach carbon neutrality/net-zero/climate neutrality?
To reach the goal of the Paris Agreement, emissions must be reduced as close to zero as possible, as quickly as possible. By 2030, we need to have halved emissions.
Both CO2 and non-CO2 emissions can be reduced by decarbonising grid energy, building more sustainably, producing our goods and services more sustainably and transporting our goods more sustainably.
In addition, targeted non-CO2 mitigation measures can reduce nitrous oxide and methane emissions from agriculture, as well as methane emissions from the waste sector. HFCs in refrigeration equipment can also be replaced with less harmful substances.
Offsetting
Offsets are a useful way to reach a carbon-neutral target right away. One offset equals one tonne of greenhouse gas emissions that is avoided or reduced elsewhere. However, you need to make sure that you purchase highly credible carbon offsets that meet rigorous selection criteria.
Carbon offsets can be generated from projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere, such as planting trees, which need CO2 to grow.
Offsets can also be generated from activities that avoid emissions (compared to a hypothetical business-as-usual scenario), such as wind farm projects, or energy efficiency projects.
Which is more popular? Carbon neutral, net-zero or climate-neutral?
Analysing past submissions to CDP shows that most companies use the term ‘carbon-neutral’ over terms such as ‘climate-neutral’ or ‘net-zero’. However, the term ‘net-zero’ is becoming increasingly popular.
A search on Google trends over the past three years reveals that in Australia, the term ‘carbon-neutral’ is a more popular search term compared to ‘net-zero’, which in turn is more popular than the term ‘climate-neutral’.
Figure 4: Google search trends for ‘carbon-neutral’, ‘net-zero’ and ‘climate-neutral’[1]
[1] Numbers represent search interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the given region and time. A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term. A value of 50 means that the term is half as popular. A score of 0 means there was not enough data for this term.
100% Renewables are experts in helping organisations develop their climate action strategies and plans, and supporting the implementation and achievement of ambitious targets. If you need help to develop your Climate Action Strategy, please contact Barbara or Patrick.
Feel free to use an excerpt of this blog on your own site, newsletter, blog, etc. Just send us a copy or link and include the following text at the end of the excerpt: “This content is reprinted from 100% Renewables Pty Ltd’s blog.
This article follows on from part 1 and part 2 of this series, in which we discussed general questions about carbon neutrality, scopes, the Climate Active Program and typical emissions sources in a Climate Active carbon footprint. In this blog post, we’ll address how to get certified carbon neutral under Climate Active and how much it costs to get certified under the Climate Active program.
How do I become certified under Climate Active?
To become certified carbon neutral under Climate Active, there are four basic steps.
Determine your carbon footprint boundary
Calculate your carbon footprint
Get your carbon footprint verified
Purchase carbon offsets and submit all documentation to the Commonwealth Government
What responsibilities do you have under Climate Active?
The following list shows your responsibilities under the Climate Active program. Please note that a registered consultant can help you with engaging a verifier, collecting all necessary data, completing your report and guiding you through the offset purchase process.
Sign Licence Agreement
Pay annual fee
Engage auditor/verifier
Complete report or provide all data to a Registered Consultant (please note that 100% Renewables is a Registered Consultant)
Purchase offsets
Sign the Public Disclosure Statement and submit the report
Submit web profile
Use the Climate Active trademark correctly
How much does it cost to become certified under Climate Active?
There are four fee components for getting certified under Climate Active
Engage a registered consultant to help you with the carbon inventory boundary and carbon footprint calculation
Engage a third-party validation provider to verify the work done by the registered consultant
Buy carbon offsets to achieve carbon neutrality
Pay Climate Active membership fees
NOTE: Please contact us for an estimate of how much you will likely need to pay for these four fee components. We can provide you with a 1-page report.
Let’s have a look at these fees in detail.
How much do I have to pay a registered consultant?
We are a registered consultant under the Climate Active program. Our fees depend on the size and complexity of your organisation, on how much of the work you would like to do yourself, as well as on the emission sources that are included. It’s best to contact us for a quote. We will give you a fixed fee quote once we understand your circumstances a bit better.
How much do I have to pay a verifier?
Just like with registered consultant fees, verification costs also increase with the complexity and size of your organisation. It is likely that verification providers will charge a higher fee if you choose not to engage a registered consultant.
What is the difference between a registered consultant and a verifier?
A ‘registered consultant’ can be engaged to develop your carbon inventory boundary, carbon footprint and emission reduction strategy. They would liaise with you, your verifier and the Commonwealth. It is not mandatory, and you could do this step yourself, but it is highly recommended that you do engage a registered consultant as they have the skilled resources who have done the training and are experienced in this work.
A verifier is an independent third party who must be engaged to validate the carbon boundary and footprint. Your registered consultant cannot be the same person or business as the verifier so that there is no conflict of interest.
Could we do any of this work ourselves?
You can develop your own carbon footprint in accordance with the Climate Active rules if you have the in-house resources. In any case, you will need to engage a verifier. You might find that a verifier’s fees are then a little higher, as they may have to do more detailed checking than they would otherwise have to do.
How much do I have to pay for carbon offsets?
There is a wide range of costs, depending on the actual offset project, its location, accreditation standard and co-benefits, as well as the volume you are purchasing. The range can be from $1.50 to $28 per carbon offset.
It is usually helpful to run a workshop with your key stakeholders to work out your preferences and what is feasible given your emissions and budget.
How much are Climate Active membership fees?
Climate Active licence fees depend entirely on the size of your current footprint. There are four brackets which range from under 2,000 tonnes of carbon emissions to over 80,000 tonnes. You will pay between $820 to $2,627 inc GST for the lowest bracket, a fee which will be charged annually. If your footprint is greater than 80,000 tonnes, you will need to pay $18,911 inc GST annually. These fees increase by 2.5% every year.
Do I have to pay all these fees every year?
No. You will have to pay yearly Climate Active membership and carbon offset fees to continue to be a carbon-neutral company. And you do need to calculate your carbon footprint annually as well, but this would be much less than the first time, and you should make sure that all the data collection and calculation processes are documented so that you can do the work in-house, or mainly in-house.
You will only need to pay the validation provider once every three years.
Does the size of my company matter?
Yes, absolutely. Because of the rigour and multi-step process that is involved with getting certified under Climate Active, there is a certain amount of cost involved with becoming carbon neutral under Climate Active.
To give you an example, the smallest bracket under Climate Active is between 0 and 2,000 tonnes of yearly emissions for organisations. 2,000 tonnes of carbon emissions roughly equal the electricity consumption of 300 homes or the fuel consumption of 600 cars.
Say your organisation emitted 100 tonnes of carbon emissions yearly. Climate Active fees would be $820 inc GST, while registered consultant and verification costs can vary between $500 and $10,000 each, depending on who you engage. Carbon offset costs will range from $1,200 to $2,800, depending on the exact carbon credits you would like to purchase.
Do I have to calculate my carbon footprint every year?
Yes, you will have to calculate your carbon footprint every year. Your organisation might have changed, or your carbon footprint boundary, or the way you collect your data. Your business activity may also have changed, resulting in a higher or lower carbon footprint. You may have outsourced activities that were previously insourced. The carbon intensity of the grid may also have changed, resulting in potentially lower emissions.
It is essential to calculate your carbon footprint every year so you can see the effect of those changes. It will allow you to celebrate any success you’ve had with emissions reductions or getting closer to your goal. Alternatively, it will be a good opportunity to put a particular focus on emissions that might have increased over time or that you want to target with your next emission reductions projects.
We recommend using a consultant such as 100% Renewables to help with the yearly calculation, but if you have the skills set and availability inhouse, you can undertake this activity yourself.
If you are going through Climate Active certification for the first time, the whole process can seem a bit confusing. Engaging a registered consultant such as 100% Renewables will ensure a smooth and easy process. Please download our Climate Active brochure to find out more about how we can help you with your Climate Active certification.
100% Renewables’ staff are registered consultants with Climate Active. If you would like to achieve certification, or prepare for certification, please contact Barbara.
Feel free to use an excerpt of this blog on your own site, newsletter, blog, etc. Just send us a copy or link and include the following text at the end of the excerpt: “This content is reprinted from 100% Renewables Pty Ltd’s blog.
One of our service offers is helping our clients determine their Climate Active carbon footprint and obtain Climate Active certification from the Commonwealth Government. Over the last few months, we’ve received many calls of organisations wanting to find out more about Climate Active accreditation, which resulted in the publication of Part 1 of this series.
In Part 2 of this series, we will discuss more details about scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and what emission sources typically form part of a Climate Active carbon footprint. In the final blog post of this series, we will go into more details about how to get certified under Climate Active.
What are scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3 emissions?
Scope 1 emissions are emissions directly generated at your operations, such as burning natural gas or driving company cars, or refrigerant gases in your air conditioning equipment.
Scope 2 emissions are caused indirectly by consuming electricity. These emissions are generated outside your organisation (think coal-fired power station), but you are indirectly responsible for them.
Scope 3 emissions are also indirect emissions and happen upstream and downstream of your business. Examples are waste, air travel, the consumption of goods and services, contractor emissions, or leased assets.
Fuel- and energy-related activities (not included in scope 1 or scope 2)
Upstream transportation and distribution
Waste generated in your operations
Business travel
Employee commuting
Upstream leased assets
Downstream supply chain emissions
Downstream transportation and distribution
Processing of sold products
Use of sold products
End-of-life treatment of sold products
Downstream leased assets
Franchises
Investments
While this list looks a bit overwhelming, not all emission sources will be relevant. It’s important to prioritise your data collection efforts and focus on your most significant and relevant emission sources. You can ask questions such as whether you expect the emission source to be large relative to your scope 1 and scope 2 sources, or whether you have influence over the activity, or whether your stakeholders deem the emission source relevant.
The graphic below shows a graphical representation of a typical Climate Active boundary for emission sources.
Figure 2: Typical Climate Active boundary for emission sources
What are the benefits of calculating supply chain/scope 3 emissions?
Just looking at your scope 1 and scope 2 emissions can give you a distorted picture of your environmental impact. Going through the list of upstream and downstream scope 3 emission sources is a great exercise to identify the carbon intensity of your value and supply chain. It encourages the quantification and reporting of emissions from various suppliers, which can help you drive greater emission reductions. It will also have a snowball effect by not only you focusing on reducing your direct emission sources, but also encouraging your suppliers to reduce theirs.
For many organisations scope 3 emissions can represent a much larger emission source than scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, and it is often eye-opening to calculate your carbon footprint across all three scopes. Also, the more scope 3 emission sources you include in your carbon inventory, the more credibility your statement of carbon neutrality will have.
Understanding scope 3 emissions will help you plan for potential future carbon regulations and can guide corporate procurement decisions and product design.
What emission sources are in a typical Climate Active footprint?
A Climate Active carbon footprint encompasses many emission sources across the three carbon accounting scopes. One of the first steps in getting certified under the Climate Active program is to determine your carbon footprint boundary.
You need to include all emissions that you have direct control or ownership of, such as natural gas, transport fuel usage by your vehicles, and electricity consumption in your operations. You also need to identify all emissions that are a consequence of your activities but are outside of your direct ownership or control, such as waste and contractors’ transport.
You must also include emissions from third party electricity use under your organisation’s control even if they are offsite, such as outsourced data centres, if these emissions are large relative to other emission sources.
You don’t need to include every single emission source, but you must assess all other direct and indirect emissions to determine whether they are ‘relevant’.
The relevancy test
Under Climate Active, particular emissions sources are relevant when any two of the following conditions are met:
The emissions are likely to be large relative to your electricity, stationary energy and fuel emissions
The emissions contribute to your GHG risk exposure, and including and addressing them will help you to avoid future costs related to energy and emissions
The emissions are deemed relevant by your key stakeholders (such as major customers, suppliers, investors or the wider community)
You have the potential to influence an emissions reduction
The emissions are from outsourced activities that were previously undertaken in-house, or from outsourced activities that are typically undertaken within the boundary for comparable organisations. Data centres and transport are typical examples of this.
If an emission source is relevant, you must include it in your carbon footprint boundary. You can exclude emissions that are not relevant, but you should disclose these in your public reporting documents.
You may find that many emission sources will be relevant, but you don’t have to collect data for all of them. For instance, if the associated emissions constitute less than 1% of the total carbon footprint, you can include the source in your boundary, but you don’t have to calculate its associated emissions.
There are many more questions to be answered, so stay tuned for Part 3 of this blog post series. If you are going through Climate Active certification for the first time, the whole process can seem a bit confusing. Engaging a registered consultant such as 100% Renewables will ensure a smooth and easy process. Please download our Climate Active brochure to find out more about how we can help you with your Climate Active certification.
100% Renewables’ staff are registered consultants with Climate Active. If you would like to achieve certification, or prepare for certification, please contact Barbara.
Feel free to use an excerpt of this blog on your own site, newsletter, blog, etc. Just send us a copy or link and include the following text at the end of the excerpt: “This content is reprinted from 100% Renewables Pty Ltd’s blog.
One of our service offers is helping our clients determine their Climate Active carbon footprint and obtain Climate Active certification from the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.
Over the last few months, we’ve received many calls of organisations wanting to find out more about Climate Active accreditation, so we thought it would be a good idea to publish a Frequently Asked Questions about Climate Active. In this article, we will discuss questions about the program in general. In the next blog post, we will go into more details about how to get certified under Climate Active.
What is carbon neutrality?
Carbon neutrality (or zero net emissions) is reached when all emissions in your defined carbon footprint boundary are zero. Ideally, your carbon inventory boundary will encompass as many emission sources as possible so that your claim for carbon neutrality is credible.
You can reach carbon neutrality by:
Reducing your emissions onsite through energy efficiency or by installing solar PV
Buying renewable energy
Buying carbon neutral products and services
Netting off the rest of your emissions through the purchase of carbon offsets
What is Climate Active?
Carbon neutrality can be self-declared, by calculating your carbon footprint, and offsetting it. However, it does not come with the same credibility as getting certified under a Government-backed program. This is where Climate Active comes in.
Climate Active is a highly trusted certification program, which is administered by the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. It was first launched in 2010 and was originally known as the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS).
Initially, it was only possible to achieve carbon-neutral certification for organisations, products and services, but in 2017 the certification options were expanded to events, buildings and precincts.
Organisations that achieve certification under this program are allowed to display the Climate Active trademark and logo, which showcases this achievement.
What are the benefits of going carbon neutral under Climate Active?
Becoming certified under Climate Active shows that you are taking a stand in terms of climate change and that you want to be a leadership organisation. It signals to your staff, suppliers, and customers that you have a purpose beyond making money. Climate Active certification provides your business with the opportunity to:
Demonstrate that your organisation is a leader by taking a stand on climate action
Align with Sustainable Development Goals
Differentiate your brand and increase customer recognition
Meet growing stakeholder expectations and enhance reputation
Attract and retain talented employees and build internal capacity
Connect better with the community
Generate revenue, increase customer loyalty
Save energy and operating costs
Future-proof your organisation by managing carbon risk, including supply-chain risk
Can I go carbon neutral outside of Climate Active?
If you are looking to achieve carbon neutrality in Australia, the most credible way is to get certified under Climate Active. However, it is not mandatory to get certified under this Standard. You can use the Standard for guidance in calculating and offsetting your carbon footprint and self-declare carbon neutrality. Alternatively, you can use the Standard to understand what your Climate Active carbon footprint would look like, in preparation for future certification under the Standard.
Should we go carbon neutral under Climate Active now or wait till our net zero target date?
If you have a long-term goal to reach net zero emissions, you can fast track this achievement by going carbon neutral under Climate Active right away.
Then as you reduce your carbon emissions by installing solar, or by being more efficient with your energy use, you will be able to reduce your carbon offset purchases. Done this way, you have set yourself an internal carbon price (equal to the price of your carbon offsets), which you can use to get sustainability projects over the line more easily.
Going carbon neutral right away will also signal to the market that you are not working towards a goal that is far away, but that you are taking immediate steps to address climate change.
What is the difference between NGER and Climate Active?
The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) scheme, established by the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (NGER Act), is a national framework for reporting your greenhouse gas emissions, energy production and consumption. Reporting under NGER is mandatory for large energy users and carbon emitters, and only applies to scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gases (see the graphic below).
On the other hand, Climate Active is a voluntary program, and it requires that you report your upstream and downstream scope 3 emissions, as well as scope 1 and scope 2.
There are many more questions to be answered, so stay tuned for part 2 of this blog post series which discusses more details about scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and what emission sources typically form part of a Climate Active carbon footprint.
If you are going through Climate Active certification for the first time, the whole process can seem a bit confusing. Engaging a registered consultant such as 100% Renewables will ensure a smooth and easy process. Please download our Climate Active brochure to find out more about how we can help you with your Climate Active certification.
100% Renewables’ staff are registered consultants with Climate Active. If you would like to achieve certification, or prepare for certification, please contact Barbara.
Feel free to use an excerpt of this blog on your own site, newsletter, blog, etc. Just send us a copy or link and include the following text at the end of the excerpt: “This content is reprinted from 100% Renewables Pty Ltd’s blog.
This blog post follows on from the one last week. I recently presented to the Maribyrnong community in Melbourne on emissions trends and barriers to the uptake of renewables, as well as considerations for the development of climate emergency plans. Today’s article discusses five key considerations.
You can also watch me talk about these five key considerations in this 5-min video:
About the Climate Emergency
The problem of rising GHG emissions
Global temperatures are rising and will continue to grow. Without globally significant efforts, greenhouse gas emissions may increase to over 100 billion tonnes annually by 2100, which is double current emissions. Even if all countries met their current pledges under the Paris Agreement, we are on track to exceed 1.5°C of warming (above pre-industrial temperatures), and to then increase by 3-5°C by 2100 — with additional warming beyond.
Rising global temperature causes catastrophic impacts, such as bushfires, droughts, floods, severe weather events, heat waves, rising sea levels and disruptions to our food supply.
By how much do we need to decrease emissions to have a ‘safe climate’?
According to climate science, a safe climate is one where global temperature increase stays less than 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures. We need to decrease our emissions by 45% from 2010 to 2030 and then to net-zero by mid-century to give us a 50/50 chance of meeting this target. This means that we need to almost halve our emissions by 2030.
Emitting greenhouse gases under a ‘current policies’ scenario means that climate risk will be catastrophic. Incremental change is not enough to get climate risk to an acceptable level. The only way this risk can be adequately managed is by rapid action.
Declaring a climate emergency
Declaring a climate emergency recognises that aiming for net-zero by 2050 may be too late. It means that your climate efforts need to
start now,
increase in scale rapidly and
continue for decades.
In 2016, Darebin City Council in Victoria was the first government in the world to declare a climate emergency. Now, as of the 1st of May, 95 Australian local governments have made the same declaration.
Following the declaration of a climate emergency, you need to develop a Climate Emergency Plan that sets out how you will help address the climate emergency.
5 key considerations for developing Climate Emergency Plans
Consideration #1: Net-zero ASAP
If your council declares a climate emergency, you should aim to achieve net-zero emissions for your LGA as soon as possible, for instance by 2030. You may even need to target negative emissions by mid-century by incorporating drawdown measures.
Drawdown is the projected point in time when the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stops increasing and begins to reduce. Drawdown can only be achieved by removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, such as through agriculture and forestry.
Consideration #2: Include adaptation and resilience in your plan
Climate change is not some distant impact in the future. It’s here, and it’s affecting us already. Your climate emergency plan needs to include actions on how your council and community can adapt to climate change, in addition to reducing your carbon emissions.
Adaptation for council operations means that built assets, such as roads, stormwater drains and buildings, may not be able to withstand flooding, fire and intense storms. It means that your zoning and planning decisions will probably need to change and that there may be an increased demand for council services, such as water supply or community support for the elderly. Your area may also experience food supply issues. You will need to have emergency response plans for severe weather events, heat waves, flooding and bushfires and need to risk-assess the impacts on your community and corporate services.
Council also needs to help the community be resilient in the face of climate change. Resilience is the ability to withstand and recover from climate change impacts. As an example, you could help the community grow their own food and to develop resilience plans that assist your residents and businesses in bouncing back after a disaster.
Consideration #3: Include the community
Emissions for the operations of a local government are much smaller than overall community emissions. It is not uncommon for council’s emissions to only constitute 1% of overall emissions in the LGA. It’s not enough to focus on how council itself can mitigate against and adapt to climate change; the plan also needs to incorporate the community.
Climate emergency plan for the community should be developed with the community, by involving them through surveys and workshops, and by forming environmental advisory committees.
Figure 2: Emissions for council operations are small in comparison to community emissions
Consideration #4: Everyone must act
While the Federal and State governments have the greatest levers to reduce carbon emissions, local governments are closest to their communities. They play an important role in both mitigation and adaptation.
However, a council cannot alone bear the weight of emissions reduction and adapting to climate change in a community. Householders, business and all levels of government must collaborate to achieve the goals.
Local governments are in a great position to work directly with the community and to help them with addressing climate change rapidly. Council should also lobby other local governments, the state and federal governments to be more ambitious in their climate change action.
Consideration #5: Solutions already exist – they just need to be implemented
It’s easy to defer action by claiming that in future, better solutions will exist. The fact is though, that we already have all the solutions we need to mitigate against climate change. They only need to be implemented and fast.
It’s crucial to extend the scope of a climate emergency plan to a wide area of impact categories. Key solution areas of climate emergency plans are energy efficiency, solar PV, grid decarbonisation, transport, waste, buying clean energy, consumption of goods and services, emerging technologies, governance and leadership, forestry and agriculture, climate risk, clean energy generation, stationary fuel switching, education, and planning & development.
Figure 3: Key solution areas of climate emergency plans
Within those solution areas, the biggest levers to achieve emission reduction in the community are solar panels on as many roofs as possible, energy efficiency in homes and businesses, electrification of space and water heating, electric vehicles, and waste diversion from landfill.
100% Renewables are experts in developing climate action strategies, both for council operations, as well as for the community. If you need help to develop your Climate Change Strategy, please contact Barbara or Patrick.
Feel free to use an excerpt of this blog on your own site, newsletter, blog, etc. Just send us a copy or link and include the following text at the end of the excerpt: “This content is reprinted from 100% Renewables Pty Ltd’s blog.
I was recently asked to give a speech to the Maribyrnong community in Melbourne to help them with the development of a climate emergency plan. The session started with me presenting on energy-related emission trends and developing climate emergency plans, followed by a Q&A session.
In this blog post, I’ll write about energy-related emission trends, and I also recorded myself in a video. In the next article, I will go deeper into the development of climate emergency plans.
Global energy-related emission trends
In the last thirty years, energy-related carbon emissions have risen from a little over 20 Gt CO2-e to about 33 Gt CO2-e, which was mainly due to an increase in energy consumption by developing nations, as can be seen in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Energy-related CO2 emissions, 1990-2019[1]
Energy-related emissions by advanced economies is at nearly the same level today as in 1990. This is illustrated clearly when we look at emissions from electricity generation in advanced economies below in Figure 2. We can see here that while demand for electricity grew by approximately 300% over roughly 50 years, related carbon emissions have grown at a much slower rate. If fact, since the Global Financial Crisis, corresponding GHG emissions have rapidly decoupled.
Figure 2: Electricity generation and power sector CO2 emissions in advanced economies, 1971-2019[2]
The decoupling of electricity and emissions in advanced economies is due in large part to the growth in renewables. In 2019, almost 70% of new global generation was from renewables compared to only 25% in 2001, as shown in Figure 3. In 2017, 20% of global power capacity was renewables, in 2019 it was one third!
Figure 3: Renewable share of annual power capacity expansion[3]
Emission trends in Australia
These global trends are repeated in Australia, though at a somewhat slower rate than in other leading economies. By 2040, of the 16 coal-fired plants in the National Electricity Market (NEM), nine are expected to be closed, with the remaining seven expected to close by around 2050.
Even without new policies and targets, the renewables share of electricity will grow, which means that together with increased energy efficiency, emissions from electricity generation should decrease by 2030 to almost 1990 levels, as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Electricity emissions trend in Australia[4]
This trend is the right direction, but the rate is not fast enough to align with climate change science. So why are renewables not replacing coal sooner?
Barriers for the uptake of renewables in Australia
There are a range of barriers at the grid level as well as at consumer levels that influence the uptake of renewables.
Major barriers for renewables at a grid-level
Investment uncertainty
Due to the lack of clear federal policy and direction, there is great investment uncertainty for renewable energy project developers. If the business case for projects is uncertain, new projects stall. Some of this inaction is made up for by the positive actions by States & Territories, such as Victoria and the ACT, who have legislated higher renewables. NSW is also implementing new renewable energy zones to boost the growth of renewables and jobs in regional areas.
Connection and transmission issues
Many renewable energy projects are finding it hard to connect to the transmission or distribution network due to congestion issues. Marginal Loss Factors (MLF) also tend to negatively affect the business case of renewable energy projects, which are located further from the grid than ‘traditional’ coal-fired generators. So, for the same generation, coal-fired operators will receive more than renewable generators that are located further from the grid.
Lack of transmission infrastructure
Renewable generation areas are not the same as centralised coal-fired locations, so new transmission infrastructure is needed, which has to be financed and built.
Major barriers for renewables at a community level
Australia is the most successful country globally in terms of the proportion of households with solar, with more than 20% of homes generating their own clean energy. This is more than double the next highest penetration. However, despite this barriers remain to more widespread and rapid uptake of solar.
Information
Some people and businesses simply may not know that installing solar panels helps them to save money and so don’t evaluate the opportunity. They may also not have a trusted installer and don’t know how to go about finding a suitable supplier.
Capital cost
For many people, the capital outlay of solar panels is a significant barrier to reaping the financial benefits of free generation once the initial money has been spent.
Pricing signals
Energy pricing and metering do not yet adequately facilitate demand response at a household and small business level.
Priorities
People may know that installing solar panels is a good idea, but they may have other priorities that they attend to first.
Renters versus owners
It’s relatively simple for people and businesses that own their premises to install solar on their roofs. It is much harder for people and businesses who rent. We have developed fact sheets for North Sydney Council that help overcome this problem.
Stay tuned for part 2 of this article, which is going to progress in to the development of Climate Emergency Plans that councils and communities can develop to accelerate their switch to renewables.
100% Renewables are experts in developing climate emergency plans, and supporting the implementation and achievement of ambitious targets. If you need help to develop your Climate Emergency Strategy, please contact Barbara or Patrick.
Feel free to use an excerpt of this blog on your own site, newsletter, blog, etc. Just send us a copy or link and include the following text at the end of the excerpt: “This content is reprinted from 100% Renewables Pty Ltd’s blog.
Net-Zero Case study “Canada Bay Council and Community – Emissions pathway”
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