The ACT has reached the milestone of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent on 1990 levels.
Minister for Emissions Reduction, Shane Rattenbury said the nation-leading achievement demonstrated the Territory’s leadership on climate change and showed what could be achieved with an ongoing and dedicated commitment to climate change action.
Mr Rattenbury said the Territory now planned to turn its focus to the challenging sectors of transport and fossil fuel gas.
“While we should all be proud of these achievements, we are still faced with confronting reminders that climate change is here and its impacts are growing,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“Having declared a climate emergency we need to get on with the job of cutting emissions and making our community, buildings and infrastructure more resilient to the unavoidable impacts of climate change,” he said.
“Emissions from transport and fossil fuel gas are the next big challenge for the ACT.”
The Minister said transport continued to be the single largest source of emissions in the ACT, accounting for 57 per cent of the total emissions in 2019-2020.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the achievement was a result of the innovative approach the Territory had taken to reduce emissions.
“We were the first Australian jurisdiction to shift to 100 per cent renewable electricity, which was the most significant factor in meeting the 40 per cent reduction target,” Mr Barr said.
