City of Subiaco becomes first WA local government to be certified carbon neutral

In March of 2020, the Subiaco council adopted what it called a ‘milestone’ carbon reduction plan, which set out a goal of becoming certified carbon neutral and switching to 100% renewable energy by 2025. On Monday, the government for the Perth suburb reached its first goal, becoming certified by the federal Climate Active program.

Of course, Subiaco council begun its carbon cutting transition long before. As of March 2020, the City of Subiaco had a total solar power generation capacity of 162.78 kW spread across several of its sites. That includes a 100 KW install at Lords Recreation Centre, 31.9 kW at Subiaco Library, and three other 10 kW arrays at Rosalie Park, Subiaco Community Centre and Tom Dadour Community Centre. 

In addition to solar, the council has also invested in energy efficient systems, purchasing electric and hybrid fleet vehicles, and increasing efficiencies in water use and waste, it said.

Under its Corporate Carbon Reduction Plan 2020-2030, it has also committed to reducing  energy consumption by 20% and having all its fleet vehicles meet the Climate Change Authority’s standard by 2025. It is targeting an operational greenhouse gas emission reduction of 45% by 2030.

“The City of Subiaco is committed to sustainability and recognises that urgent action is needed to halt the worst effects of climate change which is why we’ve set ambitious targets to reduce our emissions and our effect on the environment,” City of Subiaco Mayor Penny Taylor said.

“We’ve been working towards this milestone for some time now so it’s great to be able to say we’re a certified carbon neutral organisation – the first in WA under the Climate Active program.”

To achieve its carbon neutral status, the council purchased offsets from three projects – a native reforestation project in Western Australia, called the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor;  a Northern Territory Indigenous fire management project, Aboriginal Savanna Burning; and a wind-based project in India.

Subiaco will need to uphold its carbon neutral status each year, with the certification by the Climate Active program applying to 2019-20 financial year.