Emissions profile

We measured our emissions in 2018/2019, which you can see below. Every three years, we’ll measure our emissions against this baseline to see our progress.  

These are the emissions of our entire city, and everyone in our community. It includes the emissions from the way we get around, the waste we produce from our homes and businesses, and the energy we use.

One of the biggest challenges we face in Hamilton is how fast we’re growing. More people in our city usually means more emissions, so we’re tasked with finding ways to reduce our emissions, even while our population grows.  

These emissions are created from the day-to-day running of Council. It’s not just keeping the lights on in our office – it includes the emissions from waste at Council facilities, our water treatment plants, and your favourite facilities like Hamilton Zoo and Waterworld.

Another source of emissions comes from the treatment of our wastewater. These are called biogenic emissions, which means emissions from biological (plant and animal) sources, and in 2018/19 these contributed an additional 11,159tCO2e to our operational emissions.