The world is moving towards a zero-emissions future. It is widely recognised that the time for talk about climate change is over and urgent action is needed.
At a global level, the United Nations is leading efforts to address climate change and limit global warming. To achieve this, the United Nations has called on nations everywhere to commit to net zero-emissions by 2050.
As an inclusive, progressive city, Canberra is leading the field in the journey to a sustainable future.
The Government released the ACT Climate Change Strategy 2019-2025, which sets a target of net-zero emissions by 2045 and identifies key actions to success. Central to this success is reducing emissions from the transport sector, which now account for more than 60% of the Territory’s emissions.
While the majority of transport emissions come from private vehicles, government has a particular responsibility for leading with its own emission reductions.
The 2019 ACT Climate Change Strategy sets a target for zero Government-emissions by 2040 with an interim target to reduce emissions by 33 per cent by 2025. While comprising around 3 per cent of total Territory emissions, the current Transport Canberra fleet of diesel and gas buses comprise over half of government emissions. Reducing public transport emissions is therefore critical to reducing government emissions overall.
A frequent, reliable public transport system powered by renewable energy is essential to reducing both public and private emissions. The ACT Transport Strategy outlines how Canberra’s integrated transport system will support our ambitions for a sustainable, resilient city in facilitating a more compact, connected urban form. At its core lies a high-quality, reliable public transport service.
With public transport one of the most efficient means of moving people over distances, our focus is to increase the use of public transport for a greater variety of trips, by improving our service reliability, accessibility, simplicity and overall attractiveness.
Transport Canberra’s vision is for public transport to contribute to the positive urban experience for all Canberrans. In the future, our public transport network will facilitate fast, reliable movements across our city and be complemented by high quality transfers, interchanges and integrated end of trip facilities.
Through transitioning to a zero-emissions bus fleet, the ACT Government can deliver a modern public transport system that drives positive change for all Canberrans.
Transition objectives
The Zero-Emission Transition Plan is guided by six objectives that deliver on all of the Territory’s transport objectives. These objectives will guide future investment and decision making to ensure the decisions we make at the local level contribute to city and global outcomes.
ACT emissions targets
Emissions from transport are expected to create over 60% of the ACT’s emissions by 2020, with the majority created by the use of private cars.
Emissions from Transport Canberra buses account for 2-3% of these emissions but over 50% of ACT Government emissions.
The ACT has committed to reducing emissions by 50-60% by 2025 from 1990 levels in order to reach its ultimate goal of 100% zero-emissions by 2045. This equates to a 17 per cent to 25 per cent reduction in emissions between 2020 and 2025.
The Climate Change Strategy sets a zero-government emissions target of 2040 with an interim 2025 target of 33 per cent on 2020 (which represents the higher end of the 17-33 per cent reduction target).
Figure 3 shows the projected emissions reductions between 2020 and 2045.
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