Framework and resource to help councils with their climate emergency response

Darebin City Council in Australia has produced a framework and resource to help other councils with their climate emergency response:

The council writes:
“Mobilisation of and engagement with other local councils around Australia and globally is a key direction of Darebin’s climate emergency strategy. We all have a role to play in responding to the climate emergency.

We need to form strong, strategic alliances and collaborate in developing a climate emergency response. We can learn from each other, and also strengthen our power when advocating together for national and international change.

Darebin has been a world leader in declaring a climate emergency, however we cannot restore a safe climate as one council. Every person, community, council or country that gets on board and makes real and effective progress is escalating the momentum for change.

Together we can achieve what is needed. By acting now and encouraging systemic change, we can create a safe and sustainable future for our planet.”

Framework
What is the climate emergency
Local government role
Key processes in effective climate emergency response
Key challenges for local governments

→ Framework (PDF, 4 pages)

Resource
‘Resource for Effective Local Government Climate Emergency Response: Darebin Council’s Climate Emergency Journey’

→ Resource (PDF, 12 pages)

Mayor’s forword
“In 2016 Darebin Council became the first government body in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our leadership and initiative, spurred on by local community members, sparked a global movement, with hundreds of councils across multiple countries now calling for a climate emergency response.

We listened and responded when our community told us they were fed up with all levels of government not taking effective action on the climate emergency.

In Darebin we are already experiencing more droughts, more localised flooding and increased heatwaves. Sections of Darebin’s population are significantly more vulnerable to these impacts, including our oldest and youngest residents, people with medical conditions, low-income households and people experiencing homelessness.

We could not stand by while our community’s health, wellbeing and environment are at risk. We knew we needed urgent and decisive action to restore a safe climate, and to allow existing and future generations, communities and ecosystems to survive and thrive.

Through our Climate Emergency Plan that was adopted in 2017, we detail the actions we are taking as a Council to help restore our climate to safe levels. Our goals are to provide maximum protection for the community of Darebin and for people, civilisation and species globally, especially the most vulnerable, and to restore a safe climate at emergency speed.

We cannot do this alone, we do not hold all the levers to make the changes required. However, local governments are in a great position to listen and act on behalf of our community, and to advocate for state and federal governments to create climate emergency policy that is long overdue.

The momentum has been building worldwide, and the growth in the number of councils that have formally recognised the climate emergency is critical in getting a climate emergency response adopted at higher levels of government. We are already starting to see this happen.

We invite other councils and levels of government to join us and declare a climate emergency, and importantly to follow through with an effective response. The work we do is vital, for now and for future generations, for humans and for the natural world.

Contents
Mayor’s forward
Introduction
Resource scope
What is the climate emergency?
Why Darebin declared a climate emergency
Moving beyond tokenism
Five key processes
Darebin’s Climate Emergency Plan
Overcoming barriers and challenges
Moving forward

→ Framework (PDF, 4 pages)

→ Resource (PDF, 12 pages)