The university's Mildura and Shepparton campuses have already achieved Net Zero, making them the first Victorian university campuses to accomplish the feat.

Th university dedicated $75 million to become carbon neutral across all its campuses by 2029.

All of its regional campuses, including Bendigo, are expected to reach the target in the next couple of years.

"I'm thrilled to announce today that - through good planning, innovative thinking and a firm focus on achieving our goals - two of our regional campuses have achieved their target several months ahead of schedule," La Trobe University vice-chancellor Professor John Dewar AO said.

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Mr Dewar said each campus was certified one at a time and Bendigo had introduced measures like solar carports to help get it reach Net Zero.

Net Zero, also known as Carbon Neutral or Climate Neutral, is achieved when man-made greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere are balanced out by removing of those gases through environmentally friendly reduction methods, helping to fight climate change.

La Trobe's Mildura and Shepparton campuses, who received their certification through Climate Active, have reduced their carbon emissions through measures such as mechanical system efficiency upgrades, batteries to store solar energy, installing solar systems and energy efficient LED lights.

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Mr Dewar said he was proud of what the university had been able to achieve in a short timeframe, given that they announced their ambitious plan less than three years ago for economic and environmental reasons.

The vice-chancellor said La Trobe University was an institution focussed on building a better world, and therefore should lead by example on important issues like climate change.

"It's great to see other large and respected organisations in our region doing great work in this area, and along with our own response to the climate emergency, I think we're really putting our region on the map in terms of creating a more sustainable community," Mildura Rural City Councillor for Environment and Sustainability Jason Modica said.

In 2021, La Trobe generated enough renewables across all campuses to power all regional campuses for the entire year.

In Mildura, 78 per cent of the campus is self-powered during the day, while in Shepparton, the solar panels supply 36 per cent of the campus' daytime energy use.

La Trobe University has additional environmental initiatives, such as their partnership with Greenfleet to offset the small percentage of emissions not reducible through on-site interventions.

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