The ARA’s Sustainability Committee held its second quarter meeting on Monday 20 May. 

Committee members heard an informative and engaging presentation from Infrastructure NSW on the recently released Decarbonising Infrastructure Delivery Policy and the Technical Guidance on Embodied Carbon Measurement for Infrastructure.  

The policy emerged from a 2022-2024 State Infrastructure Strategy recommendation to work towards net zero in the infrastructure sector. Both the Policy and the Measurement Guidance were co-designed with State Government and industry representatives, providing an example of how collaboration can lead to successful outcomes for the sector. 

The policy aims to influence decision making early in the process of infrastructure design and delivery, minimising the carbon emissions produced over a project’s lifecycle.  

The Measurement Guidance provides clear instruction for when and how to measure embodied carbon, ensuring consistency and comparability across projects.  

The Measurement Guidance is expected to be presented to the Infrastructure and Transport Ministers’ Meeting as the proposed basis for a nationally consistent approach to measuring embodied emissions.  

The Policy and Measurement Guidance can be accessed here

The Committee also heard a presentation from GHD on the preliminary results of the Rolling Stock Decarbonisation Critical Path project, and discussed the project’s potential to support the ARA’s submission towards the upcoming Transport and Infrastructure Net Zero Roadmap and Action Plan consultation.  

The ARA also updated the committee on various ongoing sustainability activities, including the 2024 Sustainability Strategy, the First Nations employment and engagement project, and the upcoming sustainability webinar series.  

Committee members are looking forward to meeting face-to-face for the next meeting in August, ahead of the ARA’s Sustainability Leaders’ Summit in Melbourne. 

For more information, please contact ARA Policy Manager, Lauren Ascah