Carbon neutrality to be celebrated on national day Carbon neutrality is to play a central part in festivities for Australia Day today (January 26th).

Members of the Climate Neutral Network (CN Net), which is led by the United Nations Environment Programme will mark the day by promoting carbon neutrality.

Among the participants in CN Net is the city of Sydney, which has Australia's first carbon neutral local government.

It has installed energy-efficient street lighting, boosted the amount of paths for cyclists and considering alterative ways of dealing with waste.

Lord mayor of Sydney Clover Moore said: "The city of Sydney is proud to be the first carbon neutral government in Australia. Though the emissions from the cty of Sydney alone are small in terms of state, national and global emissions, we believe that our leadership can influence other governments by demonstrating that change is possible.

"The UNEP Climate Neutral Network is a significant opportunity to provide information and share experiences with a wide audience."

Australia, together with the US was one of the two major nations not to sign up to the Kyoto global agreements originally, though prime minister Kevin Rudd made it his first official act to ratify the protocol into Australian law.

There are various initiatives in the country taking steps to reduce energy consumption and cut carbon emissions.

Among them is the three-day festival Greenfest, which will kick off World Environment Day on June 5th.
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