Climate Change Action Plan … Get ready, get set, GO!
We cannot afford to miss the moment offered by the imminent release of the Colac Otway Council’s Environment Strategy and Climate Change Action Plan. As a network, we seek your active involvement in the consultation on the drafts of these plans when Council releases them. Our focus is the Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP). The Climate Action Team has worked with persistence, good will and hope for the last three+ years, but Council’s action on the threats posed by climate change have been disappointing and disheartening. Council dismissed the 2020 petition of 3249 signatures asking for acknowledgement of the climate emergency. They ignored our synthesis of good practice in other Victorian shires which we offered as a practical proposal of 67 actions on climate change. They said they would have a CCAP ready for June 2022, but have not sought any community involvement in the development of that Plan. Unlike councils taking serious action with communities to address the risks, our Council have not sought to involve the community or local experts in any planning for climate action. Council has treated CAT and the community with contempt. Like Greg Mullins, “we have had a gutful” (Nov2022). But, we feel compelled to try to influence the quality of the Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP); we see it as a critical moment for people and the environment.
WHAT NOW? Despite our frustration with the way Council has been, we are taking action to encourage a whole-of-community response to the draft when it is released.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1) Become informed about what we might ask for in the CCAP that comes from Council. It must include meaningful consultation with experts and the community.
2) For starters, have a look at one or two of the best practice council CCAPs on the internet, such as:
Surf Coast Shire https://www.surfcoast.vic.gov.au/Environment/Climate-Emergency
Queenscliffe Borough https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5dbfdff71ece6c59d3795c78/t/615c253197daa851376733aa/
1633428801497/borough-of-queenscliff-climate-emergency-response-plan-final-2021.pdf
Macedon Ranges Shire https://www.mrsc.vic.gov.au/About-Council/Our-Council/Strategies-Plans/Climate-
Change-Action-Plan
Mt Alexander Shire https://www.mountalexander.vic.gov.au/Environmental/Projects
3) Be ready and willing to support this campaign:
* consider the advice overleaf; think about what you/your area/contacts want in a CCAP
* watch for the release of the draft CCAP, study it and get others to look at it
* write to Councillors, the CEO and local papers with your critique/suggestions
* ask questions at Council meetings
* attend any public meeting that is held to discuss the CCAP.
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This moment is too important to miss!
See overleaf ways to think about the Climate Change Action Plan
This moment is too important to miss!
We need you to support this campaign. Whatever Council accept as
their ‘Climate Change Ac.on Plan’ will be in place for the next 10 years.
Council is required to act
The Climate Change Act 2017 and the Local Government Act 2020 require councils to promote the economic, social and environmental sustainability of their municipal district, including mitigation and planning for climate change risks. Councils must also give ‘priority to achieving the best outcomes for the municipal community, including future generations’.
Furthermore, according to an agreement at COAG (2015), councils also have responsibility (along with state and federal government) to ‘work in partnership with the community to manage local climate risks’, and to advocate to state and federal government for policy reform.
It is critical that Council’s CCAP details a rationale, targets and ac.on-based plans:
1. Mitigation – This refers to any action the Council can take to addressing the core underlying cause of climate change – namely, the increasing greenhouse gas emissions. The Council CCAP needs to set out action to reduce (not merely offset) both the Council’s own greenhouse gases and work with the community to reduce the whole-of-Shire community greenhouse emissions. Such actions include improving energy efficiency in homes, farming and business operations, reducing use of fossil-fuel-based energy especially by getting off gas, increasing generation, storage and use of renewable electricity, using electric vehicles, reducing consumption, diverting organics from landfill, revegetation, and planned town-greening.
2. Adaptation – This refers to the actions we can take to prepare for current and projected impacts of climate change. These include planning and designing new urban infrastructure to cope with extreme weather, planning overlays that minimise future risk to properties and establishing emergency man- agreement plans and policies for bushfire and flood preparedness, health impacts of extreme weather events, landslides and storm damage to infrastructure, coastal inundation, food and water security. The CSIRO says by 2050s our region can expect an average increase of max. temp up to 2.6 degrees.
3. Risk – This refers to actions for identifying and preparing for local risks arising from the impacts of cli- mate change. These include actions to address adverse impacts on local employment, livelihoods, population movement, emergency services delivery, disruption to local economies (e.g the farming, fishing, tourism & timber industries) as well as disruption of infrastructure, health services, ecosystems and species survival.
4. Future Generations. Think about them and act for them. Don’t leave it to them!
5. Integrated/Inbuilt and Ongoing Community Input. Councils all around the world are partnering with the people in their communities to work on the best ways to tackle the impacts of the climate emergency. Our Council needs to establish a formal Community Climate Change Group to begin the conversation immediately and devise a plan for ongoing collaborative effort in planning and monitoring. We might well ask why they have not already begun these conversations with the community.
6. Solid links to external support mechanisms. These include the newly forming ‘Barwon South West Climate Alliance’ of which Council is a member, and ’Rural Councils Victoria’ which has developed a guide “Climate Change Responsibilities and Opportunities for Rural Councils in Victoria”.
7. Data-based Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting starting with robust and accessible baseline data & targets.
Thinking of your family, community, sector interests and the region … what’s important to include in these categories?
‘CCAP Community Call’ contact: [email protected] climateactionteam.org.au 21 February 2023