New South Wales Transport is propelling Australia towards a cleaner future, with progressive plans aimed at accelerating the transition to net zero operations in the transport sector.

Contributing approximately 20 percent of the state's greenhouse gas emissions, transportation stands as the fastest-growing contributor to Australia's emissions.

The Net Zero and Climate Change Policy of Transport for NSW outlines ambitious goals for decarbonisation and climate action, aiming to achieve net zero emissions across the entire transport sector in New South Wales by the year 2050.

In line with Australia's commitments to the 2016 Paris Agreement, these targets acknowledge the industry's challenges and emphasise the imperative need for urgent action.

Key targets include:

• 100 per cent renewable energy for operational electricity for the rail, light rail and metro networks by 2025 (already around 98 per cent complete)
• 100 per cent of Transport’s work vehicle fleet transitioning to all-electric by 2030
• Net Zero in Transport sector emissions by 2050
• Net negative transport sector emissions by 2060

Transport for NSW will collaborate with National Highways, the organisation overseeing the management of the UK's motorways and major roads and recognised as a global leader in the decarbonisation of transport infrastructure.

This comes after a year of collaboration on ‘The Future of Carbon Accounting in Infrastructure Contracts’, with the MOU including two initial deliverables.

The first MOU deliverable will develop integrated carbon cost management processes and technology that will:

• clearly define ‘baseline carbon’ with cost across the project portfolio.
• allow contractors to produce quantified decarbonisation plans analogous to cost plans.
• provide a consistent carbon baseline across complex portfolios – solving one of the largest decarbonisation challenges our industry faces.

The latter MOU deliverable focuses on the Digital Engineering Framework to help partners automate workflows on decarbonisation, driving costs and resource efficiencies.

Transport for NSW will monitor progress and produce annual reports on the agency’s carbon footprint.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said “Australian Governments and industry are beginning to make serious moves to greener infrastructure, and I’m pleased that Transport for NSW has been taking a leading role in this important work.”

Infrastructure Sustainability Council CEO Ainsley Simpson was quoted: “With around 70 per cent of Australia’s emissions enabled by infrastructure, sustainability is more important than ever. That's why we strongly endorse the continued positive measures the NSW Government is undertaking in this field.”

“The targets set out are challenging but important, and the Memorandum of Understanding with National Highways means we have two global leaders collaborating to accelerate to net zero.”