We help office-based businesses get to net zero emissions

CitySwitch is Australia’s flagship decarbonisation program for businesses.

It’s a free program thanks to the support of council partners and NABERS. We’re currently funded by the Cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, North Sydney, Port Philip, Yarra and Ballarat.

CitySwitch was founded in 2005 and initially focused on increasing the energy efficiency of offices. The program has since expanded to support businesses on their entire journey to net zero emissions.

In addition to providing resources to help businesses decarbonise, we work with State and Commonwealth governments to ensure policies support businesses to achieve net zero emissions.

Our approach

We create resources and host events to help businesses reach milestones at each point of this net zero pathway.

What we mean by net zero

CitySwitch aligns with the University of Oxford’s definition of net zero.

This means CitySwitch members act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible and then ensure hard-to-avoid emissions are balanced by offsets.

There is a difference between achieving net zero emissions and carbon neutrality. We emphasise carbon offsets should be purchased as a last resort only for emissions you can’t avoid. We categorise emissions based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s ‘scoped’ approach. Businesses aiming for net zero should attempt to cover all 3 scopes.