TARGETS to gradually cut carbon emissions through until 2050 have been set by Albury Council staff.
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Under the plan, carbon emissions from council operations, such as the tip, would be neutral by that point.
The timetable for action comes as the first Greens party election candidate for Wodonga Council Rupinder Kaur says she will put a motion calling for that city to declare a climate emergency if she is elected this month.
"Wodonga should join the over 1400 local government jurisdictions to use the term 'climate emergency' which has been used by over 11,000 scientists worldwide," Ms Kaur said.
"Council has a responsibility to our community to make plans that reflect the best current science."
Neither Albury nor Wodonga has declared a climate emergency.
Ms Kaur said: "Framing climate change as an emergency can enable strategic and co-ordinated action for our community to reduce our emissions as quickly as possible as well as be innovators and leaders in the region."
"I am aware that Albury Council is working on 'ambitious and achievable' emissions targets and this could be a Two Cities, One Community project," she said.
Those targets were outlined to Albury councillors at a briefing on Monday night.
They involve Albury cutting emissions to 100 per cent below 2018-19 levels by 2050, including waste which accounts for the bulk of the discharge.
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The 2018-19 tally was 91,167 tonnes of carbon.
Using that benchmark, emissions including waste are targeted to drop by 10 per cent by 2025, 20 per cent by 2030 and 80 per cent by 2040.
The council has already had a substantial fall from 2006-07 when carbon emissions totalled 127,242.
Measures to achieve the targets include switching to electric vehicles, greater solar energy, use of hydrogen gas as a power source and more waste recycling.
The council's service leader for assets, sustainability and environment, Steven Millett, told councillors that to achieve the net zero point by 2050 the city would need to buy some carbon offsets.
"That's why the targets in this first ten years is really important, that we're reducing our emissions, so the focus has to be on reducing emissions so that you don't have to purchase offsets," he said.
"Once you get into the loop of purchasing offsets you're doing that every year if you want to maintain those claims."
The targets will be presented to next Monday's council meeting for adoption.
There has been $2.6 million set aside in the 2020-21 budget to tackle emission levels.
