Cities are secret weapon to achieve net zero

Today a group of Mayors will launch new research in Canberra.

Our research shows that the emission reductions planned by just 60 of Australia’s 527 local governments will achieve 96% of the current national target (a 28% reduction by 2030)!

These Councils are planning and implementing large emission reductions in their cities. Collectively their commitments will lead to emission reductions of 88 million tonnes of CO2e.

This local effort is almost the same as the 92 million tonnes in emission reductions envisaged by the federal government to meet its 2030 goal.

This work by cities is equivalent to taking more than 20.5 million petrol cars off the road per year.

Our delegation of Mayors will explain that these emissions reductions could be delivered faster if there was a national program to help local governments roll out projects.

“We are calling on the Prime Minister to work with them to design a national cities emission reduction program, like many other nations have”. says Anna Reynolds Lord Mayor of City of Hobart.

“It’s our view that the work of cities can be harnessed to allow Australia to set a much stronger zero emissions target at the national level”

Anna Reynolds is on the Board of Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) which is the largest global alliance for city climate leadership. Over 10,500 cities and local governments from six continents and 140 countries are part of the Alliance. In total, they represent more than one billion people.