8.2.5 Carbon footprint of the MidCoast Local Government Area

8.2.5 Carbon footprint of the MidCoast Local Government Area

This Strategy does not cover emissions for the MidCoast community (except waste as this is managed by Council), however it is helpful to understand Council’s emissions compared with the community as a whole. Typically, a council’s carbon footprint is 1% to 2% of the emissions of the whole community.

Hence for climate action to be successful, leadership by Council and helping the community reduce its emissions are important. Council’s climate resolution achieves this by recognising the need for Council to act and to work with the community to help them mitigate the effects and risks of climate change. While Phase 1 addresses Council’s emissions reduction and adaptation plans, Phase 2 will be focused on the community’s emissions. This work will draw on guidance on net zero planning for NSW local councils developed by NSW DPIE22, and will commence when MidCoast Council has allocated staff resources to develop this work.

According to Beyond Zero Emissions, the 2018-19 carbon footprint of MidCoast LGA was 1,500,200 t CO2-e, meaning Council energy-related emissions are 1.93% of the emissions of the whole community, and Council’s emissions inclusive of waste are 6.8% of community emissions. This is illustrated below.

FIGURE 22: MIDCOAST LGA’S CARBON FOOTPRINT 2018-1923

Any future assessment of the opportunities to reduce the community’s emissions would draw on this (or similar) data as a key input. This ‘top-down’ data can be supplemented with other data that may more accurately reflect the region’s emissions or provide a basis for the ongoing monitoring of trends. For example, Essential Energy provides annual data on electricity consumption by customer type by LGA, which can be used to track the success of community efforts to reduce grid electricity consumption and install solar panels. Similarly, as the operator of the region’s landfills and wastewater systems Council also has estimates of fugitive emissions (methane and nitrous oxide – CH4 and N2O) from these facilities resulting from community-generated waste, as summarised above.

22 © State of New South Wales and Department of Planning, Industry and Environment 2020. Net Zero Emissions Guidance for NSW Councils, May 2020. 23 Sourced from https://snapshotclimate.com.au/locality/australia/new-south-wales/mid-coast/2018/fy