Climate Action Merribek: people in Brunswick, Coburg, Fawkner and Glenroy wanting action on climate change

Climate Emergency toolkit for Councils launched

November 19, 2020 at 3:09 pm John Englart Leave a comment

Former City of Moreland Councillor Dale Martin has authored a Local Government climate emergency toolkit, drawing upon his experience as a Councillor, and also consultation with other Councillors and community members (including with Climate Action Moreland).

The toolkit offers practical recommendations for how local governments (also known as city councils and local councils) can take immediate action to address the climate emergency.

It is written for local government councillors, Council officers and community members who want to take climate action.

Martin says the recommendations outlined in this guide are specific and measurable, with suggested time frames.

This toolkit features information on:
A. Who the decision makers are in local government
B. Key documents that can influence change, and
C. Recommendations to take action in specific areas.

This guide comes at an important time for Victoria just after Council elections when many community members may be looking at influencing Council climate action over the next 4 years.

Now is the time to lobby for a climate emergency declaration, for Council staff to include climate emergency framing in their reports, and for climate action to form part of each Council Action Plan.

Areas where local government can effectively contribute to climate emergency action include:

• energy
• transport
• communication
• advocacy
• procurement and waste
• industry and built environment
• agriculture and open space
• transparency and accountability

The recommended actions in the toolkit establish three levels of ambition (one, two and three stars). “One star being the recommended minimum level of ambition through to three stars being best-practice.” said Dale Martin.

You can download the toolkit.

According to a report on the 16 November 2020, there have been Climate emergency declarations in 1,838 jurisdictions and local governments covering 820 million citizens globally.

In Australia, where the climate emergency declaration mobilisation and petition was launched in May 2016, close to 100 jurisdictions representing 9 million people – over a third of the population – have declared a climate emergency, including the government of the Australian Capital Territory, based in the capital Canberra, and South Australia’s Upper House.

The City of Moreland declared a climate emergency in September 2018.

Other Local Government Resources:

• CEDAMIA – Local Government action Kit
• Climate Council – Cities Power Partnership
• CACE – Council and community Action in the Climate Emergency. Building the safe climate campaign from councils up
• Beyond Zero Emissions – Zero Carbon Communities. See also the SNAPSHOT CLIMATE TOOL so Communities can now get a free Snapshot of their carbon emissions. Climate Action Moreland also features on page 27 in the Zero Carbon Communities Guide.

Entry filed under: climate change info, Climate Emergency. Tags: Climate Emergency, Dale Martin, Local Government, toolkit.