Port Stephens Council have made a commitment to become carbon neutral by 2025.
A notice of motion put forward by Mayor Ryan Palmer was endorsed at a council meeting on Tuesday evening.
A new roadmap involving measures to reduce emissions and energy consumption is also expected to be developed in the near future.
Mayor Palmer says the city isn't immune to climate change.
"If there wasn't climate change, we wouldn't be getting all our calls and emails about roads that have potholes, because we've had more rain, we've got more rain coming, we've got more storms happening in the area," Mayor Palmer said.
"We can play our part here at Port Stephens Council, we do our bit to hopefully stabilize the effects of what is happening across the globe."
A number of initiatives have already been launched to help cut the Council's carbon footprint, including solar panels at libraries, community centres, and public facilities, as well as water-saving irrigation and LED lighting at Ferodale Netball Courts.
Mayor Palmer said the Council still had a a long way to go to hit net zero.
"We need to make sure that we do the right thing, not only for our generation but future generations," Mayor Palmer said.
"But it will come at a cost, so we need to get the staff to go away and to calculate where we are producing carbon, what effect that is having, and how we can actually achieve carbon neutrality."
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| Solar panels on Port Stephens Council’s Administration Building in Raymond Terrace. |
