A joint State Government and Adelaide City Council workshop saw leaders from the community, not-for-profit, property, banking and finance sectors explore what it will take to make Adelaide the world’s first carbon neutral city.
by federico stevanin
Launched by Climate Change Minister Ian Hunter and Lord Mayor Martin Haese last week, the half day workshop looked to areas of energy efficiency, zero emissions transport, renewable energy uptake and waste reduction to attract investment to the city and State and deliver jobs and opportunities for innovation.
“Adelaide can only become carbon neutral if we all work together – the key to achieving our vision lies in partnering with business and community leaders to tap into the creativity, research and technical knowledge and innovation to be found in our community,” Mr Hunter said.
“We have proven you can decouple carbon emissions from economic growth – achieving a 20 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2007, and a 27 per cent increase in the city’s residential growth and 28 per cent increase in GDP through the same period.”
South Australia is a leader in the takeup of renewable energy, with 41 per cent of the state’s energy supply already coming from renewable energy sources.
“Adelaide City Council and the State Government of South Australia will continue providing assistance to business and the community by way of incentives, partnerships and carbon challenges to make it easier for everyone to work towards Carbon Neutral Adelaide,” the Minister added.
Adelaide City Council Lord Mayor Martin Haese said the Council had a strong strategy around becoming the world’s first carbon neutral city and was looking forward to working alongside the state government, business and the community to achieve this goal.
“Already our incentives scheme has been extremely popular with early adopters building critical mass so that being carbon neutral will soon be an affordable proposition for everyone. We really are leading by example, by working towards carbon neutrality in our own operations. Since 2007 we have reduced the annual energy consumption expenditure by $800,000 in our own buildings,” Mr Haese noted.
He said the workshop was one in a series of next steps to address carbon emissions.
“All tiers of government, business and the community need to work together to achieve this goal and ensure a thriving Adelaide into the future,” Mr Haese added.
“Adelaide City Council and the State Government of South Australia will continue providing assistance to business and the community by way of incentives, partnerships and carbon challenges to make it easier for everyone to work towards Carbon Neutral Adelaide into the future.”
Minister Hunter pointed out that members of the public are also encouraged to provide ideas on this matter at www.yoursay.sa.gov.au/carbonneutraladelaide, with consultation open until the end of July.
