A free national event on 2 December 2026 will bring together councillors, campaigners and communities to celebrate a decade of climate emergency declarations and examine what needs to happen next.
Ten years after Darebin City Council made the world’s first climate emergency declaration, Climate Emergency Australia is inviting people across Australia and around the world to join an anniversary conversation about the movement’s achievements, lessons and future.
The event takes place on Wednesday 2 December 2026, from 1:00pm to 4:30pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT). Online participation is free, with a livestream available worldwide and local watch parties offering opportunities to gather, discuss and contribute.
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Darebin’s declaration on 5 December 2016 marked the beginning of a movement that spread far beyond the municipality in Melbourne’s north. More than 100 Australian councils, representing over 11 million people, have since followed Darebin’s lead. South Australia and the ACT have also declared a climate emergency, alongside more than 2,366 government bodies at local, regional and national levels around the world.
The anniversary programme will examine what those declarations have changed and what councils can learn from the past decade.
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Darebin councillor Alexandra Sangster will host the conversation. The opening panel brings together former councillor Trent McCarthy, who moved Darebin’s historic declaration; Jane Morton, one of the initiators of the climate emergency declaration campaign and author of ‘Don’t mention the emergency?’; and Adrian Whitehead, co-director of Council and Community Action in the Climate Emergency (CACE).
Imogen Jubb, Climate Manager at Ironbark Sustainability and author of the Local Government Climate Review, will examine what the data reveal about the impact of council climate action.
Representatives from Darebin, Huon Valley, Darwin, Noosa, Melville, the Blue Mountains and Mitcham will share their councils’ experiences. A roundtable will explore achievements, lessons and priorities for the next decade.
The afternoon will also feature a First Nations panel with Waverley councillor Dominic WY Kanak, a Torres Strait (Erub) and South Sea Islander (Epi) advocate, and Byron Shire councillor Michelle Lowe, a Bundjalung woman and educator.
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For this website, 2026 is also an anniversary year. Mik Aidt established ClimateEmergencyDeclaration.org in May 2016, seven months before Darebin’s declaration. This was the first post on the site ten years ago. Since then, Mik published over 200 articles and news stories on the site, while Margaret Hender maintained the list of governments, councils and jurisdictions that had declared a climate emergency. That list became the spine of the entire campaign.
The December gathering offers an opportunity to reflect on the decade since those early campaigning days and consider the work ahead.
People attending watch parties or joining from home will have opportunities to contribute reflections. A half-hour break at 3pm AEDT provides time for local discussion, networking or a pause before the livestream resumes at 3:30pm.
Everyone is welcome to register for the online event. Registration provides event updates and access to recordings of every session when they become available, allowing people to catch up if they cannot attend the whole afternoon.
When: Wednesday 2 December 2026, 1:00pm–4:30pm AEDT
Where: Online worldwide, with local watch parties around Australia
Cost: Free online registration
Register: www.humanitix.com
Full programme: www.climateemergencyaustralia.org.au