Our Response to Climate Change
Inner West Council is responding to the climate crisis by working to become carbon neutral by 2025.
Council's climate and renewable energy action to date include:
- Becoming the first council in Australia to divest from fossil fuels in 2019
- Reducing Council's carbon emissions by over 50% since 2016/17
- Being powered by 100% renewable electricity since July 2022
- Completing a climate risk assessment for the Local Government Area and Council services in 2024
The Climate and Renewables Strategy outlines Council's response to the climate emergency and the community's sustainability expectations.
We are committed to further action by adopting the following targets:
- Fully electric vehicle fleet by 2030/31
- Gas free operations by 2030/31
Council is also working to support the whole Inner West move towards zero emissions. The five key areas of focus are renewables, mobility, buildings and precincts, community partnerships and zero waste. Visit the Green Living Centre.
100% Renewable Electricity
In 2022, Council signed a landmark energy agreement negotiated by the Southern Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC) between 25 Councils and three NSW solar farms - Moree, Hillston and Nevertire. Inner West Council currently uses around 16 million kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity. The agreement builds on the 2019 SSROC electricity agreement for 25% renewable energy from Moree Solar Farm.
Council continues to install rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV) on our facilities wherever feasible. Council now has 980kW of solar PV capacity across all facilities, including 250kW at the Ashfield Aquatic Centre.
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(Pictured: Aerial view of Ashfield Aquatic Centre's Solar PV)
Energy Efficient Streetlights
Over a third of Council's electricity is used for street lighting that keeps residential and main roads safe. Since 2019, Council has been collaborating with Ausgrid and SSROC to upgrade our streetlights to energy efficient LED's. Over 90% of Inner West streetlights have now been upgraded. These upgrades have saved about 39% or 300,000 kWh every year in energy. This is enough to power 750 average Inner West households. The project has also reduced annual electricity costs for Council and saves around 8,300 tonnes of carbon annually.