Bass Coast Shire Council has declared a climate emergency and will work with the community to develop a Climate Action Plan 2020-2030.
The declaration came as a response to a petition presented to Council at the August Council Meeting, signed by over 1,000 community members.
It acknowledges the requirement for immediate and urgent action to reverse global warming, and compliments current Council activities to reduce emissions and build community resilience against the impacts of global warming.
This declaration comes after Council "declared that climate change poses serious risks to Bass Coast and Australia and should be treated as an emergency" and resolved to commence the development of a Bass Coast Climate Change Action Plan 2020-2030 at the August Meeting.
Bass Coast Shire Mayor, Cr Brett Tessari said declaring a climate emergency will affect all residents, businesses and visitors of Bass Coast.
"We understand that to protect the region from the impacts of climate change, we need to work closely with our community to identify actions at an accelerated pace," Cr Tessari said.
"The development of the Action Plan will include extensive community and stakeholder engagement to ensure participation and ownership across the community.
"Council has allocated $200,000 from the 2018/19 surplus to develop the Action Plan, which will allow us to fully engage with the community to put together a really comprehensive plan for the future," Cr Tessari concluded.
Organisations representing 66 million people in 13 countries have adopted formal climate emergency resolutions. This includes over 965 governments, of which 37 are Australian Councils and States.
