The Sunshine Coast Council released its sixth annual environment and liveability strategy on Monday.
Since July 2022, the council had been moving towards its target of becoming a zero net emission organisation by 2041 after adopting its new organisational zero net emissions plan, the council said.
This includes introducing initiatives to reduce waste, create new parks, cool households, and increase environmental protection.
It said recent progress includes:
- decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by 0.14 tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted per resident
- increasing renewable energy by 64 megawatts
- 11.95 hectares of open space secured for sports and recreation purposes
Councillor in charge of the portfolio, Peter Cox said the council had reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 20 per cent since its previous fiscal year after implementing initiatives to reduce waste to landfill and expand landfill gas infrastructure.
“That’s 45,861 less tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in our atmosphere,” Cox said.
Councillor Maria Suarez, who is also working on the portfolio said that community collaboration and partnership had also contributed to the council’s success and more projects are in the pipeline.
“This includes partnership projects such as the research with UniSC on ways to reduce urban heat with Cool Urban Forests, and it’s exciting to see the community engaging with early projects implementing the Sunshine Coast Biosphere such as the Kids in Action BiospHEROES program and Biosphere Photography Showcase,” Suarez said.