Tracking greenhouse gas emissions

The City of Adelaide is internationally recognised for our commitment to report and reduce carbon emissions.

Find out about our emissions profiles and what we are doing as a community and as an organisation to reduce our emissions.

The City of Adelaide has developed an Integrated Climate Strategy to set our vision for a resilient, protected and sustainable city where people can live, work, study and play and adapt to changes in the climate that bring social and economic opportunity and disruption.

The Strategy focuses Council’s efforts on the priorities and scale of action required by the community and through the City of Adelaide’s own operations across five goals:

1. A climate resilient city
2. A net zero ready city
3. A city where nature thrives
4. Transition to a decarbonised city
5. A climate leading capital city

VIEW THE STRATEGY

Like many global cities, increases in some emissions sources are associated with growing populations and this is a world-wide challenge. See how we are reducing emissions from Council operations.

As a community, we are taking action to reduce our emissions.

City-wide emissions have been decreasing, while the city itself has been growing.

Between 2007 and 2022 financial years our residential population grew by 41 per cent and Gross Regional Product increased by 58 per cent. See more economic and demographic insights.

Over this time overall greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 26 per cent.

• Emissions from electricity decreased by 62 per cent – primarily due to the State’s transition to renewable electricity
• Emissions from gas increased by 10 per cent
• Emissions from transport increased by 64 per cent – which reflects growth in city users
• In the financial year 2022, waste emissions make up about 5 per cent of the total, and the collection of this data is being improved.

Some other key points are:

• In financial year 2022, 36 per cent of the emissions were from commercial buildings and apartments, mostly due to electricity use. As South Australia switches to a greener grid, emissions due to electricity use are decreasing. Emissions from gas usage remain the same.
• Private car travel and aviation made up the majority of transport-related emissions. These emissions are more than trains, trucks, bus, and commercial vehicles combined.

The City of Adelaide has been tracking community greenhouse gas emissions through preparing inventories since 2007. In 2015, we established a shared ambition for our city to be carbon neutral.

The visualisations below provide a detailed breakdown of community greenhouse gas emissions for you to explore. 

Tips for reading the charts

• Use the arrows to scroll between the three pages.
• Click on any labels or charts to understand different measurements.
• Deep dive into emission sources or explore trends in energy and transport.

The City of Adelaide community greenhouse gas emissions inventory is prepared in accordance with the Global Protocol for Community Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories.

The protocol measures the emissions within the City of Adelaide boundary, using “scopes” which allows international comparisons (see definitions). This methodology is used to report internationally to the CDP platform (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) on climate data and action.

All city users can reduce carbon emissions, whether in an organisation, through supply chains, sharing knowledge, or in the home.

Hear from members of our community who are playing their part and reaping the benefits.

Get support to mind your business:

• Free Energy and Resource Recovery Assessments – get a professional assessment to find out where you can upgrade for longer term savings and impact
• Incentives for Sustainability – in postcode 5000 or 5006? You might be eligible for money back on a range of technologies and actions
• Go Electric – Be part of a clean energy future by moving your home to all-electric for a healthy, safe future!
• Sustainable events – specialist tips and templates for event managers
• Sustainable Business Guides – specialist tips on how to reduce waste in your business.
• Circular Adelaide – Use our directory to find businesses and activities in the City of Adelaide which support a more circular economy so we can all play our part and reduce our environmental impact.
• Cycling in the city – Discover how to cycle to get around Adelaide.
• Electric Vehicles – Find out where our EV Charging stations are and how to use them.
• Get Involved in biodiversity – Learn how you can experience biodiversity in Adelaide. Explore biodiversity trails, try your hand at backyard projects, or volunteer your time.

Together we all contribute to a resilient, protected and sustainable city.

The South Australian Government reports that over 70 per cent of South Australia’s electricity is provided by renewable sources, with period of 100 per cent. 

In 2022, Adelaide scored the top grade on climate action from the international reporting platform CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project). This placed the City on the A-list, among the 142 best performing city climate actors globally.