DHHS emissions reduction plan

Case Study

The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services’ Emissions Reduction Plan

The Victorian Climate Change Act 2017 sets a state-wide emissions reduction target of net zero emissions by 2050, and a timeline of interim targets set at five year intervals. The Act requires government departments to contribute emissions reductions by setting pledges for each five-year period, with the first period covering from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2025.

As the government entity with responsibility for Victoria’s public hospitals, an extensive portfolio of public housing, and sport and recreation services, the Department of Health and Human Services has a large and complex emissions profile that is material in the context of Victoria’s whole-of-government emissions inventory. To support its contribution to the whole-of-government emissions reduction efforts, DHHS engaged Point Advisory (and partnering organisations Norman Disney Young and Moreland Energy Foundation) to assist in developing a department-specific Emissions Reduction Plan.

The development of this plan (which has been designed to be iterative as Victoria progresses with setting interim targets) involved the calculation of a whole-of-department emissions inventory and modelling of a “business-as-usual” trajectory to 2050, and the identification of potential opportunities to reduce emissions across the department’s operations. The opportunities identified across health, housing, corporate and sport and recreation services were then evaluated for their capital costs and abatement potential and flexible emissions reduction pathways to 2025 and 2030 were modelled for the department’s consideration.

Subsequent iterations of this Emissions Reduction Plan will aim to define the scope and direction of the department’s emissions reduction pathway, and its first mandatory pledge under the Victorian Climate Change Act.

To see some of the other work we’re doing in the net zero space, check out our interactive online net zero model (works best in Google Chrome browser). For further information, contact Charlie Knaggs.