Sustainability Strategies and Plans

This strategy outlines the City of Launceston’s approach to creating a more sustainable city, for now, and for the future. After declaring a Climate Emergency in August 2019, City of Launceston developed a Sustainability Strategy, which provides an overarching direction for the organisation and a vision for the future of our community.

Sustainability Strategy

The Sustainability Action Plan 2022-2030 is our full implementation plan of the Sustainability Strategy. It sets out how we will improve environmental sustainability across the City of Launceston’s operations, service delivery and assets, and how we will support and advocate for our community.

Sustainability Action Plan

The Towards Zero Emissions Action Plan was developed, with the overarching target of achieving carbon neutrality as an organisation by 2025.

The Towards Zero Emissions Action Plan sets out how the City of Launceston will achieve our targets by 2025 while playing our role to help meet the Paris Agreement 2015 objective to avoid a global average temperature rise of 2°C by 2050 and to pursue efforts to limit rising to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Download a copy of the City of Launceston Towards Zero Emissions Action Plan

Download a copy of the action plan progress reports below:

• Towards Zero Emissions Action Plan - Progress Report - July 2022(PDF, 2MB)
• Towards Zero Emissions Action Plan - Progress Report - July 2023(PDF, 529KB)

In line with the City of Launceston's commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and become carbon neutral by 2025, City of Launceston is undertaking an internal annual emissions desktop audit to track emissions against the baseline produced by external consultants. The annual desktop audit will be completed in-house and independently verified by a third party.

Download a copy of the City of Launceston Greenhouse Gas Audit Summary Reports below:

• Greenhouse Gas Audit Summary Report 2018 - 2019(PDF, 953KB)
• Greenhouse Gas Audit Summary Report 2019 - 2020(PDF, 641KB)
• Greenhouse Gas Audit Summary Report 2020 - 2021(PDF, 648KB)
• Greenhouse Gas Audit Summary Report 2021 - 2022(PDF, 668KB)
• Greenhouse Gas Audit Summary Report 2022 - 2023(PDF, 664KB)

To provide a future climate outlook for the Launceston region, climate scientists and science communicators from the Climate Futures program at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) were engaged for this research project, funded by the Northern Tasmanian Councils. The project was completed in June 2021.

Download a copy of the City of Launceston Climate Summary 2022.

City of Launceston is a member of the Cities Power Partnership (CPP), Australia’s largest network of local councils leading the way to a thriving, zero emissions future made up of over 150 councils from across the country. As part of the partnership, we have committed to five pledges focusing on sustainable transport, renewable energy and divestment from fossil fuel investments.

City of Launceston aims to achieve all CPP pledges by 2030.

The City of Launceston's Sustainability Action Plan(PDF, 4MB) includes and recognises the CPP pledges, including them in the Sustainability Action Plan reporting framework. Council will also report on the CPP pledges directly by contributing updates to the Climate Council's annual reporting and feedback survey.

Power council operations by renewable energy and set targets to increase the level of renewable power for the council's operations over time.

The CPP pledges adopted by the City of Launceston

1. Renewables
Power council operations by renewable energy, and set targets to increase the level of renewable power for the council's operations over time.

2. Sustainable Transport
Encourage Sustainable transport use such as public transport, walking and cycling through the Council transport planning and design.

3. Cycling Infrastructure
Support cycling through provision of adequate cycle lanes, bike parking and end-of-ride facilities.

4. Advocate 
Lobby State and Federal Government to increase sustainable transport options.

5. Fossil Fuel Divestment
Achieve 100% divestment from fossil fuel-aligned investments at the earliest possible date.