The Corporate Emissions Reduction Plan (CERP) guides Council's efforts to reduce the impact of carbon emissions from our activities, services and facilities, while also supporting the community to take positive action to respond to climate change.

It sets a roadmap for Council to become a zero emissions organisation, guiding our efforts in line with Council’s long-term emissions reduction targets.

The CERP 2025 - 2029 outlines 30 key actions across 8 focus areas to help us cut emissions from operations. It builds on our 2028 real zero goal and introduces a new 2035 target to reduce emissions from our supply chain and services (Scope 3 other indirect emissions).

View the video and hear Abdul Ahad, Banyule's Corporate Emissions Reduction Lead, talk about Council's emissions reduction journey so far.

Council remains committed to real, lasting carbon cuts—not offsets—to reach real zero.

Understanding our emissions

Emissions come from many different sources, from within Council and from the things we buy and use. To help track and reduce them, they’re grouped into three categories called scopes:

These are direct emissions from sources that Council own or control (e.g. fuel used in Council vehicles, or gas used at Council facilities).

Indirect emissions from the electricity we purchase and use. Even though these emissions occur at the power station, they result from our energy consumption. Since Banyule joined the Victorian Energy Collaboration (VECO) in 2021, 100% of our electricity comes from renewable sources, meaning our Scope 2 emissions have now been fully eliminated.

All the other indirect emissions that happen because of Council’s activities but are not from sources we own or directly control. This includes emissions from our purchased goods and services (supply chain), staff travel, and the Council run community events.

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Background

Success so far

Since adoption of the CERP 2020-23, a number of sustainability initiatives have been delivered.

  • Purchasing 100% renewable energy - from 2021, Council has been a part of the Victorian Energy Collaboration (VECO), which has resulted in the generation of 100% of Council's electricity from wind farms. This change led to a reduction in nearly 60% of Council's annual greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Purchasing electric vehicles - Council’s passenger vehicle fleet has undergone a partial transition, with a number of zero emissions vehicles in the fleet and full transition expected to be achieved by 2028.
  • Energy efficient facilities – we have undertaken several energy efficiency upgrades across our facilities, including installing LED lighting, upgrading heating and cooling and new insulation. We have also made improvements to our aquatic centres including pool blankets, more efficient pumps, automatic doors and an upgrade to more efficient fans.
  • Getting off gas – 60% of our small facilities (child care centres and community halls, for example) have been electrified, meaning that all gas appliances and systems have been changed to electric.
  • Solar installations - we have rolled out solar panels on more than 85 Council buildings, helping to reduce our carbon footprint, cutting costs and moving away from traditional energy sources.
  • Continuous improvement - as part of climate leadership, a culture of climate action has been embedded across the organisation and is seen as an all-of-staff responsibility.

Stage 1 engagement

Community engagement

From 15 January to 24 March 2024, we asked the community to help us shape a sustainable and resilient community.

145 people provided feedback through an online survey. We also heard feedback through a variety of other engagement activities including:

View the full findings report take a look at a summary of what we heard below.

What you told us

What we heard about the Corporate Emission Reduction Plan

  • 83% of respondents were aware that Council has a target to become a carbon neutral organisation by 2028.
  • 62% of respondents think Council should be 'a risk taker, early adopter and industry leader' when investing in new technologies to reduce emissions.
  • The majority of respondents would prefer Council to procure offsets which have a local benefit, even if that meant they would cost more.
  • The majority of respondents suggest that if offsets were to be purchased, the preference would be for projects that avoid and reduce emissions in the first instance (e.g. using renewable energy and stopping deforestation), rather than projects that remove already emitted carbon emissions from the atmosphere using carbon capture technologies.
  • There was a strong awareness of emission reduction goals and a desire for sustainable practices including:
    • renewable energy adoption
    • active transportation promotion
    • waste management improvements.
  • Concerns highlighted were:
    • climate change impacts
    • a call for decisive action
    • community involvement in mitigation efforts.