Thank you to our Community Carbon Emissions Reduction Taskforce who participated in a three-day deliberative panel to answer the question: How should Council reduce community carbon emissions? The Taskforce delivered a report to Council in May 2023, outlining recommendations for how Council should reduce community carbon emissions.
These recommendations have informed the development of community carbon emissions reduction initiatives delivered by Council as part of the Let’s Go Zero program. More information on Council’s decisions about these initiatives is summarised below.
23 July 2023
On 23 July 2023, Council endorsed a program of 20 community carbon emissions reduction initiatives focusing on FOGO, energy transition to renewables, sustainable transport, environmentally sustainable design in planning processes, behaviour change and future planning.
25 March 2025
On 25 March 2025, Council endorsed a program of 11 community carbon emissions reduction initiatives focusing on energy transition to renewables, sustainable transport, environmentally sustainable design in planning processes, behaviour change and future planning. This program also has three initiatives specifically targeted to low-income households.
The Remit
Council has a key target in MV2040 to achieve zero net emissions for our community by 2040. How should Council reduce community carbon emissions?
Taskforce Members
Expressions of interest to participate in the Community Carbon Emissions Reduction Taskforce closed on 26 February 2023. A total of 252 people registered their interest. From these registrations, 45 people were randomly selected to represent a cross section of our community based on neighbourhoods/wards, age, gender, diversity, language usually spoken at home, and place of birth.
An external facilitator with expertise in deliberative panels was engaged to assist staff to run the Taskforce workshops.
An introductory ‘Meet and Greet’ session was held online on Wednesday 19 April 2023 from 6pm to 8pm. The Taskforce workshops were held in the Clocktower on the following dates:
- Session 1: Saturday 22 April 2023 – 9am - 4:30pm
- Session 2: Saturday 29 April 2023 – 9am - 4:30pm
- Session 3: Saturday 6 May 2023 – 9am - 4:30pm
Councillors and community members were welcome to attend the workshops as observers (see the endorsed Terms of Reference and Observer Guidelines here). Observers sat in allocated seating in a separate section from the Taskforce.
At the final session, the Taskforce provided a written report of their recommendations on initiatives/projects/programs to help reduce community carbon emissions, that aligned with the 10 opportunities outlined in the Emissions Reduction Analysis Report.
