Councils going for net zero: full list

Some say local government should stick to roads, rates and rubbish, but an increasing number of councils are adopting net zero targets. See the list and have your say.

More than one in six local councils across Australia have adopted a net zero target, and 10 have already gone carbon neutral, new figures show.

Victorian councils have embraced net zero with particular gusto, with 34 of the state’s 45 local governments setting target dates to get there.

In NSW, one third of councils have adopted a net zero goal, compared to 12 per cent in South Australia, 8 per cent in Western Australia and 5 per cent in Queensland.

Tasmanian councils have not bothered setting targets, largely because the state itself is carbon neutral, while the ACT has a net zero goal, and two of the Northern Territory’s six councils have also made the pledge.

Data analysis platform Purpose Bureau reviewed 531 local councils in Australia and found 92, or just over 17 per cent, had made net zero commitments by 2050 or sooner.

The 10 councils that have already achieved carbon neutrality are Brisbane City Council (Australia’s largest local government, with 1.25 million residents), Adelaide City Council, Subiaco and Fremantle in WA, and Bayside, Colac Otway, Melbourne, Moonee Valley, Moreland and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.

In NSW, Sydney, Waverley and Willoughby councils have all recently accelerated their net zero targets, while others, including Byron, Blue Mountains and Georges River, plan to reach the goal by 2025.

Most local government emissions reductions plans govern only the operations of the council itself, but some have also set goals for the community as a whole.

The plans have been criticised by some resident groups.

Ratepayers Victoria committee member Verity Webb said councils should stick to environmental issues such as recycling and planting trees instead.

“It’s up to federal and state governments to take the lead on reducing emissions and introducing policies and legislation,” Ms Webb said.

Local councils should “lead by example, with simple, practical and inexpensive solutions: for example, reducing the use of council vehicles and encouraging staff to walk, rather than drive," she said.

Verity Webb from Ratepayers Victoria. Picture: Supplied

But Dr Simon Bradshaw, who will represent Australia at a COP26 forum on the role of sub-national governments in emissions reduction in Glasgow on Thursday, said local governments were well-placed to contribute because “so much of the practical action that has to happen is at the local level”.

“Local councils own and manage huge amounts of the nation’s infrastructure, so they have a lot of scope to be driving down emissions, both through their own operations, and everything that’s under their control,” Dr Bradshaw said.

Local governments also had an important advocacy function for their communities, Dr Bradshaw said, and it was frustration with perceived federal inaction on climate change that had helped kickstart the Cities Power Partnership, a group of 160 councils wanting to cut emissions.

The participating councils were a “real mix, all shapes and sizes,” Dr Bradshaw said, and they included a number of central Queensland councils representing areas traditionally dependant on fossil fuel industries.

The group received a boost on Monday, with the NSW, SA and ACT governments agreeing to form the Net Zero Emissions Policy Forum, described as a “collaboration designed to help sub-national jurisdictions address the practical challenges of achieving net zero emissions”.

Dr Bradshaw said momentum for local government action on emissions was accelerating.

A recent survey of councils by the Cities Power Partnership found one in four were already investigating a council operations emissions target, and 11 per cent said they would have a goal set within the next 12 months.

NSW COUNCILS WITH NET ZERO TARGETS

Armidale 2030

Ballina 2030

Bayside 2050

Bega 2050

Blacktown 2030

Blue Mountains 2025

Byron 2025

Canterbury 2050

Cessnock 2050

Georges River 2025

Glen Innes 2050

Hawkesbury 2050

Hornsby 2050

Hunters Hill 2050

Inner West 2025

Kiama 2031

Lismore 2050

Maitland 2050

Newcastle 2050

Northern Beaches 2030

Orange 2050

Randwick 2030

Ryde 2050

Shellharbour 2050

Shoalhaven 2050

Snowy Valleys 2050

Sydney City 2028

Upper Hunter 2030

Waverley 2030

Willoughby 2025

Wollongong 2030

Woollahra 2050

VICTORIA: COUNCILS WITH NET ZERO TARGETS

Alpine 2023

Ballarat 2025

Banyule 2028

Baw Baw 2050

Bayside Already carbon neutral

Brimbank 2030

Casey 2040

Colac Otway Already carbon neutral

Darebin 2050

Frankston 2025

Greater Bendigo 2036

Greater Geelong 2035

Kingston 2050

Knox 2030

Maroondah 2050

Melbourne City Already carbon neutral

Melton 2040

Moira 2050

Monash 2025

Moonee Valley Already carbon neutral

Moorabool 2050

Moreland Already carbon neutral

Mornington Peninsula Already carbon neutral

Mount Alexander 2030

Murrindindi 2050

Port Phillip 2050

South Gippsland 2030

Stonnington 2040

Surf Coast 2050

Wangaratta 2050

Warnambool 2040

Whittlesea 2022

Wyndham 2040

Yarra Ranges 2040

QUEENSLAND: COUNCILS WITH NET ZERO TARGETS

Brisbane Already carbon neutral

Noosa 2026

Sunshine Coast 2041

Whitsunday 2050

SOUTH AUSTRALIA: COUNCILS WITH NET ZERO TARGETS

Adelaide Already carbon neutral

Burnside 2030

Charles Sturt 2025

Holdfast Bay 2030

Marion 2030

Mount Barker 2050

Unley 2050

Yorke Peninsula 2050

WESTERN AUSTRALIA: COUNCILS WITH NET ZERO TARGETS

Augusta-Margaret River 2030

Bayswater 2040

Belmont 2050

Busselton 2050

Cockburn 2030

Denmark 2050

Donnybrook-Balingup 2050

Fremantle Already carbon neutral

Manjimup 2050

Melvilee City 2050

Subiaco Already carbon neutral

OTHER STATES AND TERRITORIES

No Tasmanian council has a net zero goal but state became carbon neutral in 2015.

The Australian Capital Territory government has a net zero goal for 2050.

Two out of six Northern Territory councils have net zero goals: Darwin by 2030 and Alice Springs by 2050.