The paper provided guidance to reduce embodied emissions in the delivery of public infrastructure across the planning, design and construction phases.
Significant progress has been made since the release of the discussion paper, which outlined six principles and actions for reducing embodied emissions, with the progress focusing on early project development stages.
Swift action is being taken by the NSW Government Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and INSW to develop a Protection of Environment Policy (PEP). This is a regulatory mechanism requiring the measurement and eventual reduction of embodied emissions in infrastructure. The PEP will also support circular economy approaches that manage waste more efficiently and reduce carbon emissions.
The PEP will require the measurement and eventual reduction of embodied emissions in infrastructure. INSW and the EPA will engage extensively with industry as part of the process of developing the PEP and there will be a minimum three-month public consultation on the PEP.
You can keep up to date with the PEP progress on the EPA website.
INSW and Transport for NSW (TfNSW) have also prepared the Decarbonising Infrastructure Delivery Roadmap of their activities and milestones relating to embodied emissions over the next three years, to provide greater policy clarity to industry and communicate the coordinated work of NSW Government.
The Roadmap sets out key initiatives from 2023-2026 towards decarbonising infrastructure delivery and reflects the collaborative relationship between INSW and TfNSW as a NSW Government leader in this space.
View the Decarbonising Infrastructure Delivery Roadmap.
If you have any enquiries regarding Decarbonising Infrastructure Delivery please contact industry@infrastructure.nsw.gov.au
The NSW Government has adopted a goal of Net Zero emissions across the whole NSW economy by 2050 and a 50% cut in emissions below 2005 levels by 2030.
How will this impact the infrastructure sector?
Decarbonising the infrastructure sector requires understanding and managing emissions right across asset lifecycle stages, from emissions embedded during construction, generated by ongoing asset operations, and left behind through waste.
This requires meaningful collaboration between Government and industry to support innovative low carbon design and construction methods on Government projects, as well as to collect accurate data on the carbon impacts of infrastructure projects.
What action is Infrastructure NSW taking?
Infrastructure NSW (INSW) is taking action through three key initiatives:
Decarbonising Infrastructure Delivery policy: The policy will set a clear mandate and provide guidance to agencies on how to consider embodied carbon throughout project development.
Measurement guidance: Infrastructure NSW is developing a consistent approach to estimating and measuring embodied carbon that will be applicable in NSW and nationally.
Regulation (Protection of the Environment Policy): in partnership with the Environment Protection Authority, Infrastructure NSW is developing a measure to require infrastructure projects to report embodied emissions and maximise the use of recycled materials as part of applying for planning consent.
What is the Decarbonising Infrastructure Delivery policy?
The Decarbonising Infrastructure Delivery policy sets expectations for NSW Government infrastructure delivery agencies on managing embodied carbon in public infrastructure projects.
The policy will ensure embodied carbon is a key consideration in early project stages and that carbon information is collected consistently across Government projects. The policy is aligned to the NSW Business Case Guidelines and Infrastructure Investor Assurance Framework and is underpinned by the following principles:
Apply the carbon reduction hierarchy.
Assess the carbon impacts.
Engage with the market.
What is the measurement guidance?
The guidance directs NSW Government infrastructure delivery agencies on how to estimate upfront carbon early on in project development stages and how to measure upfront carbon during project delivery.
This ensures that all agencies can understand their carbon impact early on in project development and that all agencies are consistently reporting upfront carbon to support future benchmarking and target setting.
Will there be consistency across jurisdictions in measurement requirements?
In June 2023, Infrastructure and Transport Ministers approved the national adoption of the measurement approach being developed by Infrastructure NSW.
Infrastructure NSW will Chair a national working group with transport and infrastructure representatives from other jurisdictions to facilitate engagement on carbon measurement. Infrastructure NSW is engaging nationally on this issue through a working group it established of infrastructure bodies. The Commonwealth Government will be supporting work towards national alignment.
A draft national approach is expected to be prepared in 2024.
What is the Protection of the Environment Policy?
The Protection of the Environment Policy (PEP) is a measure to encourage sustainable construction and will be considered as part of the development assessment process. The objectives of the proposed PEP are to require consent authorities to consider appropriate options to:
minimise embodied carbon in infrastructure projects
maximise the use of recycled and remanufactured substitute materials derived from NSW priority waste streams.
The PEP is being developed in partnership with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and will be publicly exhibited for comment in late 2023.
Infrastructure NSW and TfNSW are now responding to industry requests for an aligned NSW Government forward workplan on embodied emissions through the Decarbonising Infrastructure Delivery Roadmap. The Roadmap sets out key initiatives from 2023-2026 towards decarbonising infrastructure delivery and reflects the collaborative and complementary relationship between Infrastructure NSW and TfNSW.
