We are committed to play our part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Council adopted a gross emissions reduction target for all council operations including wastewater and landfill methane and excluding forestry sources and sinks.
This emissions reduction target is aligned with the science-based pathway identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) to help limit global warming to 1.5°C. Meeting these targets ensures Council plays its part and is doing its fair share to reduce emissions.
Science-based targets define how much and how quickly emissions must be reduced to be consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. They provide organisations a clearly defined path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
The IPCC's Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C defines a 1.5°C emissions pathway as: “an emissions pathway that provides approximately a 50–67% chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C (or returning to 1.5°C after a limited overshoot) based on current understanding of the climate system. These pathways require rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and reaching a balance between emissions and removals (net zero CO₂ globally) around the middle of the century”. The IEA produces one of the principal sectoral pathways for limiting warming to around 1.5°C, specifically its Net Zero Emissions by 2050.
