A road map to zero emissions in Southern Tasmania was recently released by the Southern Tasmanian Councils Authority (STCA). The report, the Community Carbon Emissions and Energy Footprints, highlights the emission reduction actions required by communities across the 12 local governments for energy and waste emissions.

The 24 STCA leaders, mayors and general managers have endorsed the delivery of a Local Government Climate Strategy via the Regional Climate Change Initiative, (RCCI), which facilitates action across the region based on the Community Greenhouse Footprints.

City of Hobart Deputy Lord Mayor Helen Burnet, STCA and Regional Climate Change Initiative Chair, said 2.7 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions entered the atmosphere annually across the region.

Transport is the largest emitter (37%), followed by industry (31%), commercial (12%), residential (8%), agriculture and forestry (12%) and waste and sewerage (<1%) sectors. “Councils have been utilising these community footprints to raise awareness of the technologies needed to make the zero-emission transition,” said Cr Burnet. “For example, Brighton Council has a community target to double local renewable electricity by 2030.”

“With the proportion of electric vehicles at just 296 out of 250,000 registered vehicles in the region, we know that we need to focus on unlocking the EV market for our communities,” said Cr Burnet. “We will continue to demonstrate the transition to zero emissions via council leadership in our own backyard.”

Councils have also helped boost solar uptake by providing guidance on ideal locations as well as case studies which show solar provides favourable savings that far outweigh the initial investment costs.

Brighton Mayor, Leigh Gray, said Brighton Council was one of many councils that had called on the Australian Government for strong Fuel Efficiency Standards to help communities choose lower emitting vehicles. “We have shown that councils of all shapes and sizes are on the same pathway to zero emissions. We switched to one full electric and three hybrids across Council’s vehicle fleet. Many councils across southern Tasmania are doing the same thing” said Cr Gray.

For more information on the STCA RCCI climate change program visit www.stca.tas.gov.au/rcci.