About this site
Adelaide Low Carbon Movement is a community information site about reducing carbon emissions in Adelaide. The idea of a movement is simple: many people and organisations making low-carbon choices at the same time, each in their own way. The site speaks for no government body or company, and has no members list.
What it is, and what it is not
- It is an information site. It sells nothing, takes no bookings and gives no quotes.
- It is not run by, and does not speak for, any council, state agency or company.
- It is not professional advice. Check the details of any energy, building or financial decision with a qualified person.
Why cut emissions at all?
Countries agreed in the Paris Agreement to hold the rise in average global temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius, which means moving away from fossil fuels. South Australia has already shifted a great deal of its electricity to wind and solar, and the state government's climate change action plan for 2021 to 2025 sets a goal of net zero emissions by 2050. A city that lowers its own emissions shows that the change is practical.
What does “carbon neutral” mean?
A person, business or place is carbon neutral when the emissions it still produces are balanced by an equal amount removed or avoided somewhere else. The order matters: cut what you can first, then deal with what is left. Net zero is a stricter idea, because it counts all greenhouse gases and does not let offsets stand in for real cuts. Our take action guide explains offsets in more detail.
The earlier program, in brief
In 2015 the City of Adelaide and the Government of South Australia announced a shared ambition for the city to become the world's first carbon neutral city, and the program that grew from it was called Carbon Neutral Adelaide. It was a partnership between the two governments. It ran an action plan, a partner network and an awards series. A quote on the program's own site from the then Lord Mayor of Adelaide described the effort as a way of showing off Adelaide's reputation as a clean, liveable city. By 2022 the City's own progress report counted more than 200 partner organisations. In June 2024 the City's council endorsed an Integrated Climate Strategy 2030 that replaced the earlier Carbon Neutral Strategy 2015-2025, and the City reports that its climate work now sits under that strategy. No closure announcement for the program was found, so this record runs to 2022 and the City's 2024 strategy.
Sources: City of Adelaide, Carbon Neutral Strategy 2015-2025 progress update (June 2022); City of Adelaide consultation page for the Integrated Climate Strategy 2030 (2024).
Adelaide Low Carbon Movement did not take over, replace or continue that program. See how its progress was tracked and the timeline.
Information site. Not a government program or a business: no bookings, quotes or dispatch.