Exploring opportunities to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of infrastructure in Victoria

WSP supported Infrastructure Victoria to advise the Victorian Government on how policies, guidelines and procedures can be updated to incorporate carbon emissions in infrastructure decision making.

Location

Victoria, Australia

Client

Infrastructure Victoria

The Victorian Government is committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2045, earlier than most other jurisdictions in Australia, and has also set an ambitious mid-term emissions reduction target of 75-80 percent by 2035. One of the major challenges in achieving this goal is tackling emissions associated with infrastructure, estimated to account for 70% of all GHG emissions in Australia. With Victoria’s secured and announced infrastructure pipeline of $189 billion, the decarbonisation of public infrastructure will play a crucial role in meeting these commitments.

Estimated share of carbon emissions associated with infrastructure

70%

Victoria’s secured and announced infrastructure pipeline

$189B

Victoria’s emission reduction target for 2035

75-80%

WSP was appointed by Infrastructure Victoria to assist the development of advice to the Victorian Government on the required changes to policies and guidelines to better address the carbon emissions associated with infrastructure. WSP analysed the current state of play, looking to where lessons could be learned from other jurisdictions in Australia and overseas. We then undertook analysis on the impact, feasibility and cost-effectiveness to form our final recommendations to Infrastructure Victoria. Engagement was undertaken with government and industry stakeholders through the development of potential interventions and the final recommendations.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions needs to be the new business as usual approach to infrastructure if Victoria is to meet its emissions reduction targets and limit the impacts of a changing climate.

Allison Stewart Deputy CEO, Infrastructure Victoria

Allison Stewart Deputy CEO, Infrastructure Victoria

"WSP worked closely with our team to identify and clearly describe the big opportunities to reduce emissions across Victorian government schools, hospitals, transport projects and other infrastructure. Their work helped us forge a pragmatic approach which captures the opportunity to decarbonise infrastructure while also improving productivity, reducing costs and creating new jobs," Alison added.

Nick Gallaugher, Senior Economist at WSP, shared on the experience, stating, “Working closely with Infrastructure Victoria on this crucial initiative has been a great experience for our team involved. These recommendations, if enacted, will ensure that carbon is measured, valued, and managed across the project lifecycle, which is essential to driving down the carbon impact of our infrastructure.”

Recommendations/Policy options

The advice identifies three principles and makes 10 recommendations, each with clear actions. They can guide how the Victorian Government plans, sources, delivers and maintains its infrastructure on the path to net zero.

The three overarching principles to guide decarbonisation efforts in Victoria are:

Prioritise non-build or low build solutions. Aim to get better use from existing infrastructure or modify it to meet changing needs before considering a new build. Use construction techniques like offsite or modular construction wherever possible in new builds.
Align approaches with other governments and industry best practices.
Clarify the scale and pace of infrastructure emissions reduction to give confidence to industry.

16664-IV-Decarbonisation-of-Infrustructure-Figures_Additional-alts_FA_Figure-2

Infrastructure Victoria’s 10 recommendations create the foundation for decarbonising infrastructure:

Adopt a carbon management standard like PAS 2080:2023 Carbon management in buildings and infrastructure to measure and manage carbon emissions and modify as needed to embed in Victoria.
Implement the same carbon measurement approach as New South Wales and deliver training across the Victorian Government.
Initially adopt a carbon value of at least $123 per tonne and then update to reflect values required to achieve Victorian emissions reduction targets.
Update business case guidelines and templates to integrate emissions reduction.
Measure carbon in infrastructure cost benefit analysis and make decisions that reduce emissions.
Update procurement frameworks and guidance to embed carbon reduction in tenders.
Update standard form contracts to include carbon reporting, abatement requirements and further reduction opportunities.
Establish carbon management prequalification requirements for government contracts.
Support industry to develop zero or low emissions solutions by testing alternative materials and adopting performance-based standards.
Update assurance processes to include carbon emissions.

Click the documents below to read the Infrastructure Victoria advice to the Victorian Government on Opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of infrastructure and supporting WSP technical document.