Set a strategic direction in emissions reduction plans that requires public sector investment programmes to be compatible with our international commitments on carbon emissions.

Measures to support this direction should:

1. Require that infrastructure policies and strategic plans take into account, where feasible, their implications for locking in carbon emissions.
2. Include a full consideration of non-built solutions and decarbonising existing infrastructure in all business cases.
3. Require assessments of whole-of-life carbon emissions, including embodied, enabled, and operational emissions, in all business cases.
4. Require the use of a cost of carbon compatible with international commitments on carbon emissions within all cost benefit analyses, outlined in the Treasury CBAx tool.
5. Measure the carbon impacts of different construction materials used in infrastructure projects.
6. Set a timetable for reviewing regulations, standards and codes to ensure they don’t inhibit the uptake of low-carbon materials.

This should be cross-sector and reviewed regularly.