Greenhouse gases are gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect, a natural process that warms the Earth’s surface. When energy from the sun reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, some of it is reflected back to space and the rest is absorbed by the land and oceans, heating the Earth. The Earth then radiates heat back out into the atmosphere, some of which is trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, helping to keep the Earth warm enough to sustain life.

The problem we face is that human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), agriculture and land clearing are increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This increased concentration of greenhouse gases traps more heat in the atmosphere which is changing our climate.

The main gases causing this ‘enhanced greenhouse effect’ are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorocarbons.

‘Net zero emissions’ means achieving a balance between the amount of greenhouse gases we produce and the amount stored or offset through tree planting or other activities. From 2020 it is projected that the transport, energy and building sectors will be the main sources of emissions in the ACT.

The greenhouse gases already released have ‘locked in’ a certain level of change in our climate which we can already observe. The more greenhouse gasses we produce, the higher the degree of warming and change we will experience.

For the ACT, climate change means longer, hotter summers with more heatwaves, increased risk of bushfires and changing rainfall patterns. To limit the impacts of climate change we must work towards net zero emissions and adapt to the ‘locked in’ changes. Addressing climate change now has a range of economic, environmental and health benefits.

The ACT has set a nation-leading target of achieving net zero emissions by 2045. This target stands among the world’s most progressive and demonstrates the Territory’s commitment to delivering real climate action. The ACT has also set interim targets to guide progress towards achieving net zero emissions. Advice from the ACT Climate Change Council supports these targets as responsible, science-based and achievable.

The ACT has committed to reducing emissions (from 1990 levels) by:

• 40% by 2020
• 50-60% by 2025
• 65-75% by 2030
• 90-95% by 2040
• net zero emissions by 2045 (previously 2050).

The ACT pioneered an innovative ‘reverse auction’ process to ensure residents get the best value for their renewable energy. Four reverse auctions were held for large-scale solar and wind from 2012 to 2016. They were underpinned by the Electricity Feed-in (Large-scale Renewable Energy Generation) Act 2011. A reverse auction means companies compete to offer renewable energy at the lowest cost (but biggest benefit) to Canberra, rather than the usual auction process where the highest price is considered. Auction bids are evaluated on their overall value for money by considering the feed-in tariff (FiT) price, risk, community engagement and local investment benefits. For more information visit Government’s Cleaner Energy webpage.

You can follow the development of the ACT’s next transport strategy here.

The ACT Planning Strategy 2018 has been released. You can learn more about the planning strategy here.