ZERO EMISSIONS NOOSA (ZEN) Inc. ALLIANCE AGREEMENT (REFERRED FROM THE GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING DATED 6 OCTOBER 2026 ITEM 7.2.4) · Report

ORDINARY MEETING                                                                  15 OCTOBER 2026




REPORT
Background

Established in 2016, Zero Emissions Noosa Inc (ZEN Inc) is an incorporated, not-for-profit,
community organisation with the key objective of assisting the Noosa community to achieve net zero
emissions in the Noosa local government area. It is the leading community organisation in this field,
recognised nationally, and the only Noosa community organisation solely dedicated to emissions
reduction across the Shire. ZEN Inc seeks to make Noosa Shire a leading local government region
in zero emissions by supporting the community in the transition to a clean and affordable Shire
through project leadership, advocacy, and the provision of information to all sections of the Noosa
community.

The projects and activities of ZEN Inc align strongly with objectives and actions in various Council
endorsed strategies and plans, particularly Council's Corporate Plan and Climate Change Response
Plan. ZEN Inc provides an important role in the community, supporting activities that drive emissions
reduction whilst improving resilience and the cost of living. Partnerships like the one with ZEN Inc
allow delivery of things that would not be possible for Council to achieve utilising staff time alone.

Noosa Council has an established partnership with ZEN Inc which includes annual funding in
accordance with its three-year Partnership Agreement which was established in December 2023.
The annual funding has been primarily used by ZEN Inc for program support staff that enable the
organisation to deliver projects, events and engagement programs for community. In its FY26/27
budget, Council allocated further funding ($148,000) to continue to support Zen Inc.

An updated Alliance Agreement 2023-2026 has been prepared to provide guidance and governance
to the funding support provided by Council. This report outlines the strategic objectives of ZEN Inc,
its operations and benefits to community, as well as the inclusions of the new proposed Alliance
Agreement 2026-2028 to guide Council’s strategic alliance with ZEN Inc.

ZEN Inc Operations
ZEN Inc produces annual reports which are publicly available on their website detailing their projects,
initiatives and financial status. ZEN Inc also develops an Annual Operational Plan, which includes
KPIs that are reported on annually. Each Annual Operational Plan is guided by an overarching
Strategic Plan which is developed and approved by their Board of Directors every three years which
sets the strategic direction, mission and vision for the organisation.

As outlined in their new           Strategic   Plan   2026-2029     (included   as   Attachment     8),
ZEN Inc has four overall goals:

1. Empowering households to reduce their energy use and cost of living, to become more resilient,
   while moving towards net zero emissions
2. Facilitating business to cut energy costs and emissions, to become more resilient, while moving
   towards net zero emissions.
3. Reducing transport emissions through active transport and electrification, for community
   resilience
4. Efficient operations for high impact delivery

To achieve Goals 1, 2 and 3, ZEN Inc has focused on the two largest sources of Noosa's community
emissions, namely stationary energy (electricity) and transport. ZEN Inc has three working groups