7.2 ACT trends
This section looks at trends for the following human settlement topics:
What are the main human settlement findings from the 2023 ACT State of the Environment Report? Watch the video and see the infographic below to find out.

Population growth
Population growth is a major driver of environmental pressure and change. The more people there are, the greater the demand for land, energy, transport, resources, and other goods and services.
In 2022, the ACT’s population was approximately 457,000 people. It is projected to grow to around 696,000 people by 2050 – an increase of 239,000 people.
Effective sustainability measures and careful urban planning are needed to minimise the environmental impacts of population growth into the future (see Canberra’s growing urban area).

This graph shows the ACT’s estimated resident population from 2013 to 2022 and projected population for 2050. ACT’s population is increasing and is projected to grow to around 696,000 people by 2050.
Data sourced from: Australian Bureau of Statistics and Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate.
Ecological footprint
An ecological footprintThe impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. is the amount of land and water needed to supply the resources (the food, shelter, energy, goods, services and other needs) consumed by an individual or group of people, and to absorb their waste and emissions. Changes in the ecological footprintThe impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. show the effect our daily activities and resource consumption have on the environment.
For the ACT to have sustainable resource use, its ecological footprintThe impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. should be the same area as the ACT itself. However, in 2021–22, the ecological footprintThe impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. for the ACT was around 2.21 million hectares, representing over nine times the size of the ACT. This means that the ACT needs an area nine times its size to provide the resources, goods and services it requires, and to regulate its pollution. This resource use is unsustainable, placing stress on the rest of the Earth’s natural ecosystemsA biological community of interacting living and non-living things..
The good news is that the ACT’s total ecological footprintThe impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. has decreased by nearly 11% since 2009–10 despite population growth. This is because the ACT’s per capita (or per person) ecological footprintThe impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. has decreased by nearly 30% since 2009-10! The ACT’s per person footprint is now lower than that for Australia.
More than two-thirds of the ACT’s ecological footprintThe impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. comes from what we do at home. Minimising the resources we use and the waste we generate at home can significantly improve the environment.
Our planet on a plate
The main contributor to the ACT’s ecological footprintThe impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. is our food. The average diet requires lots of land, because cows and other sources of meat usually need a lot of space to graze. Many people want to eat food out of season, which means transporting food long distances. Selecting more locally produced and alternative sources of protein with lower footprints could substantially reduce the total ecological footprintThe impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. of the ACT.





This graph shows the ACT’s per person ecological footprintThe impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. in 2021–22. Most of the ACT’s ecological footprintThe impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. comes from the food we eat (livestock like cattle are grazed on pasture land). Food supply is usually the highest contribution for most ecological footprintsThe impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. due to the amount of land required to produce food for the average diet. Emissions land refers to the area of land impacted by the greenhouse gasA gas in the atmosphere (such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) that absorbs and emits energy, warming the Earth. Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the main cause of climate change. emissions from our resource use.
Source: Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment.

Carbon footprint
Our carbon footprintThe amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released into the air as a result of our daily activities. is the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasesA gas in the atmosphere (such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) that absorbs and emits energy, warming the Earth. Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the main cause of climate change. released into the air as a result of our daily activities.
In 2021-22, the ACT’s carbon footprintThe amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released into the air as a result of our daily activities. was approximately 4.65 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalentA measure of all greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and so on, that would give the same warming as the equivalent concentration of carbon dioxide alone. Carbon dioxide equivalent is also called CO2-e. (also called CO2-e). Our per capita (or per person) carbon footprintThe amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released into the air as a result of our daily activities. was 10.2 tonnes CO2-e. These figures are much lower than in previous years due to the ACT’s transition to 100% renewable electricityEnergy produced from natural sources that are constantly replenished and never run out. Examples include solar, wind, and hydro power from dams. in 2020.
The achievement of 100% renewable electricityEnergy produced from natural sources that are constantly replenished and never run out. Examples include solar, wind, and hydro power from dams. has resulted in a 40% reduction in the ACT’s carbon footprintThe amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released into the air as a result of our daily activities. between 2009-10 and 2021-22 despite population growth. The per person carbon footprintThe amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released into the air as a result of our daily activities. decreased by around 54% over the same period!
As you can see in the graph below, the ACT’s per capita carbon footprintThe amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released into the air as a result of our daily activities. used to be higher than that of Australia, but in 2021-22 it was over 20% lower! This shows positive progress for the ACT.

This graph shows the ACT and Australian per capita (or per person) carbon footprintThe amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released into the air as a result of our daily activities. from 2003–04 to 2021–22. The ACT’s per capita carbon footprintThe amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released into the air as a result of our daily activities. has been decreasing since 2009–10 mainly due to the uptake of renewable electricityEnergy produced from natural sources that are constantly replenished and never run out. Examples include solar, wind, and hydro power from dams.. The ACT’s 2021–22 per capita carbon footprintThe amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases released into the air as a result of our daily activities. was 21% lower than that of Australia in 2021–22.
Source: Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment.

Energy
In 2015–16, just one-fifth of the ACT’s electricity came from renewable energyEnergy produced from natural sources that are constantly replenished and never run out. Examples include solar, wind, and hydro power from dams. sources. In 2020, 100% of the ACT’s electricity came from renewable electricityEnergy produced from natural sources that are constantly replenished and never run out. Examples include solar, wind, and hydro power from dams.. The ACT is the first state or territory in Australia to achieve this.
In 2021–22, wind farms in South Australia, Victoria and NSW supplied nearly 70% of the ACT’s renewable electricityEnergy produced from natural sources that are constantly replenished and never run out. Examples include solar, wind, and hydro power from dams.. The only renewable electricityEnergy produced from natural sources that are constantly replenished and never run out. Examples include solar, wind, and hydro power from dams. generated in the ACT itself comes from solar farms and rooftop solar generation.
Regardless of the energy source, it is important to reduce energy use – higher energy demand means that more energy needs to be produced. Even though our population is growing, electricity demand in the ACT is relatively stable. This is because individual electricity consumption is decreasing due to people buying more energy efficient appliances and making more effort to reduce their electricity use.
Not-so natural gas

Over a quarter of the ACT’s greenhouse gasA gas in the atmosphere (such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) that absorbs and emits energy, warming the Earth. Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the main cause of climate change. emissions come from natural gas combustion, which is used for things like cooking, heating and hot water. Despite the environmental sounding name, natural gas is a fossil fuel that contributes to climate change.
It is critical for us to reduce natural gas use in the ACT in order to meet our greenhouse gasA gas in the atmosphere (such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) that absorbs and emits energy, warming the Earth. Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the main cause of climate change. targets. The ACT Government has set a target to stop the supply of natural gas by 2045. However, natural gas use has not decreased in the ACT since 2012–13.
Transport
The environmental impacts from travel include air pollution, greenhouse gasA gas in the atmosphere (such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) that absorbs and emits energy, warming the Earth. Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the main cause of climate change. emissions, reliance on non-renewable fuels, noise, and land clearing and habitat loss when roads are built.

Car use
Cars are used for over 75% of daily trips in the ACT and Queanbeyan region. Cars are less efficient than public transport at moving people and so have greater impacts on the environment. Increased use of private vehicles adds to congestion and travel times, and creates demand for new roads. This is why it’s important to use public and alternative forms of transport such as walking and cycling. It is also important that people purchase electric vehicles rather than those powered by petrol and diesel.

This graph shows the ways in which people travel in the ACT and Queanbeyan region. Most people use cars for daily travel. People’s use of public transport and alternative transport such as cycling and walking are far lower than for car use.
Data sourced from: ACT and Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council, Household Travel Survey.
Not only do we use cars for most of our travel, the number of cars and how much we use them is also increasing. The number of registered vehicles in the ACT grew from around 253,000 vehicles in 2010 to over 331,000 in 2023 — an increase of over 30%. Bigger vehicles designed for off-road driving like SUVs (sports utility vehicles) are increasingly being used around Canberra. These large vehicles are more damaging to the environment, using more fuel and emitting more air pollutants. Additionally, the number of diesel-powered passenger vehicles has more than tripled in the ACT since 2010. This large increase is concerning because diesel engines emit more air pollutants than petrol engines.
In 2023, electric vehicles accounted for less than 2% of the total registered passenger vehicles in the ACT, with hybrid cars (cars that have both electric and petrol power) accounting for 3%. But in terms of vehicle numbers, there has been a greater uptake of electric and hybrid vehicles in recent years in the ACT. Since 2019, electric vehicle numbers have roughly doubled annually and in the first half of 2023 one in five newly registered vehicles were electric.

This graph shows the fuel type for registered passenger vehicles in the ACT in 2010 and 2023. Diesel powered vehicles more than tripled between 2010 and 2023. Although the number of electric and hybrid cars are increasing, petrol and diesel powered vehicles accounted for nearly 95% of registered passenger vehicles in 2023.
Data sourced from: Access Canberra.
Public and active transport

Only 4% of daily trips in the Canberra and Queanbeyan region are undertaken using public transport (bus and the light rail). Current public transport use remains much lower than previous decades. For example, there were 25.1 million public transport boardings in 1989–90 (over 90 boardings per capita). This is much higher than for 2018–19 with only 19.3 million boardings (47 boardings per capita) – even though 2018–19 had the highest number of public transport boardings in the past 10 years. This decrease in public transport use has occurred despite the ACT’s population growth of over 150,000 between 1989–90 and 2018–19. These results show that the ACT community currently uses public transport services a lot less than in the past.

Only 2% of daily trips are by bicycle despite there being around 3,100 km of cycle paths and some 600 km of on-road cycling lanes. Given the high level of cycling infrastructure in the ACT, there is a lot of scope for improving cycling participation, including across gender and age groups.
Walking is far more common and was the second highest transport mode in the Canberra and Queanbeyan region, with 18% of the total trips taken. However, it should be noted that walking data includes that undertaken for recreation (for example, exercise and dog walking) which accounted for nearly 40% of all walking trips, and so does not necessarily represent travel to a specific destination.