15 Sep 2016
A Carbon Neutral Adelaide is more than a vision – it’s already underway. And if the Carbon Neutral Adelaide event held last week was anything to go by, the momentum is picking up.
City of Adelaide’s The Right Honourable Lord Mayor Martin Haese opened the event explaining that Adelaide City Council is challenging the status quo on how to create liveable cities.
“Carbon Neutral Adelaide has seen both local and state government collaborating with a great level of success,” said Lord Mayor Martin Haese.
The City of Adelaide and the Government of South Australia have shown their commitment, and there’s a real momentum to see greater industry involvement in carbon neutral planning.
The Carbon Neutral Adelaide vision was released in November 2015 with six key areas of focus – including investing in energy efficiency and renewables in the city, reducing emissions from waste, transforming the way we travel and identifying offset opportunities to reduce emissions and deliver economic return.
It will see Adelaide become carbon neutral by 2025.
Both Chief Executive, Department of Environment Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR), Sandy Pitcher and University of South Australia’s Dr Stephen Berry, emphasised that Carbon Neutral Adelaide is a holistic policy.
The vision is not just about buying carbon offsets to achieve carbon neutrality – we will achieve carbon neutrality by affecting a behavioural change among people and industry alike. Creating an understanding that health, economic and environmental policy are intrinsically linked.
The DEWNR have been leading by example, targeting a Green Star – Interiors rating for their office refurbishment at 81 Waymouth Street and opening discussions to encourage the adaptive re-use of other buildings in the Adelaide CBD.
An initiative of the Government of South Australia has encouraged global idea generation of leading carbon neutral solutions, through its Adelaide to Zero Carbon Challenge. Over 150 entries were received from across the world and selected ideas will become reality with the help of seed funding.
Also, through using available technologies and data, Adelaide plans to maximise efficiencies while continuing to reduce carbon. One idea under consideration is the use of smart parking technology, which is predicted to save residents up to 30% of the time taken looking for a carpark in the CBD.
Adelaide and South Australia are setting a tangible and exciting example with their commitment and drive to become the world’s first carbon neutral city.
We look forward to seeing all levels of government taking steps to achieve carbon neutrality – and delivering a more liveable and resilient future for our Australian communities.
A big thank you to our speakers:
And another big thank you to our sponsors who made this event possible:
Aurecon, Cundall, D Squared Consulting and Schiavello
At the event a number of people expressed interest in our Green Star – Design and As Built Foundation course. We’d love to bring this course to Adelaide so please register your interest and we'll be in touch.