Organisational Emissions Reduction Progress Report

Amelia Lorentson27:00

You very much. Thank you very you. Thank you. Very much. Thank you. So we're now up to item 7.2- Organisational Emissions Reduction Progress Report

Nature of the risks and the danger from global warming is not that may engulf the world and humanity is not indisputable. Dispute. This sobering clarity frames the progress report before you today. Risk we face from longer, more intense, and more frequent floods, bushfires, heat, extreme heat, cyclones, and intensifying storms are now well documented and increasingly witnessed in our report before you today is an act of transparency and honesty. The report before you today is an act of It confirms that Council will not meet its original net zero by 2026 target for our organisational missions. One of the biggest challenges Council faces is in landfill emissions. Even with gas flaring and diversion programs, waste decomposition continues to generate methane, a greenhouse gas that is far more potent than carbon dioxide. This is why landfill is often the hardest sector to tackle, and why, to the best of our knowledge or staff, no other Council in Australia has achieved net zero when they have had landfills. However, despite not meeting our target, this report also confirms that a mistake is not this mission. We have been on journey for over 20 years as a recognised leader both in Queensland and nationally. Since 2016, we have achieved a genuine 19% reduction in operational emissions in practical and impactful projects such as large-scale solar installation. Battery storage, at critical sites like evacuation centres, LED lighting upgrades, green waste diversion and increased gas storage at the landfill. These actions will deliver not only emissions reductions but also electricity for savings. And resilience benefits for both Council and community. By the metrics of the widely accepted social cost of carbon, these actions have also already avoided millions of dollars in damage to all of society. Before you today, is also one of integrity. We can buy third-party offsets. Party offsets. We are recommending against this as we are choosing not to outsource our responsibility. The offset market also currently faces integrity and availability challenges and limited local benefits. Industry best practice is very clear. We must prioritise reducing emissions as before relying on offsets. That is why we recommend prioritising direct investment here in Noosa, tackling waste resource challenges, restoring local ecosystems, cleaning global air pollution, supporting the community with a circular and air pollution. Notably, this report notably, this report only addresses council's organisational emissions, whilst we still have the net zero target for community emissions, also by 2026. In partnership with Zero Emissions Noosa Incorporated and community organisations, we will aim to work closely together to bring clarity to the emissions reduction effort for community, including an updated calculation of its emissions profile and potentially new resilience funding opportunities next financial year. Fund we are currently developing a science-based climate-positive investment road map to return to you early in the new year. This will be a long-term plan with ambitious, yet achievable targets, and where net zero will only be one step in the turn. The plan will aim to accelerate direct emissions reduction, particularly at the landfill, and in keeping with our enforced waste-to-resource plan. It will fast clean energy and fleet electrification. It will fast-track clean energy and fleet electrification and invest in local carbon removal projects that restore biodiversity and deliver co-benefits for our community. Importantly, it will be paired with a clear investment strategy that prioritises actions based on cost effectiveness and cost benefit. It outlines the resources required to deliver it and identifies innovative and alternative finance opportunities to responsibly scale the investment required. Councillors, this is the moment to reaffirm our direction. Climate action is no longer just an environmental responsibility, it is a governance responsibility, a financial responsibility, a disaster risk responsibility, and an intergenerational responsibility. We have a moral imperative to the most vulnerable in Noosa. The youth of the Shire to move forward with the strength of our Resolve, knowing that the cost of inaction is a price we cannot afford to pay, and knowing that leadership from local governments like ours is essential for the collective effort local governments like ours is essential for the collective effort required to address this the scale of the challenge we face.