Climate and Ecological Emergency Response Plan

**This consultation is now closed.

The Climate and Ecological Emergency Response plan was endorsed in July 2021 and Council is now focusing on engagement with specific stakeholders to ensure the proposed actions are scalable, robust and cost-effective. Council action will then be subject to a process of detailed design to ensure specific barriers are addressed and the abatement potential is realised.**

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Kingston’s vision is to leverage Council resources and spheres of influence to support and accelerate our community response to the Climate Emergency and remove barriers to change.

We have a strong foundation from which to scale up our collective action to achieve our target of net zero by 2030 - but the magnitude of change is huge.

Many Australians are already taking steps to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Despite this, we are amongst the highest greenhouse gas emitters per capita in the world.

While Council has been working for some time to reduce its own emissions and support the community to live more sustainably, it is time to accelerate our emission reductions, strengthen protection of our natural environment and ramp up community and local business action to reduce emissions.

In January 2020, Kingston City Council joined with 85 (now 98) local councils across Australia to declare a Climate and Ecological Emergency.

Shortly thereafter, Kingston began collaborating with other councils in Melbourne’s south east to increase the abatement potential of actions and reduce costs.

Whilst there is currently no definitive framework for Council to enact a climate emergency declaration, an accepted approach to ‘best practice’ climate emergency response is emerging across the sector and it is broadly accepted that ‘business as usual’ is no longer acceptable.

We want to ‘build back better’ following the global pandemic by supporting local climate action, building a stronger and more connected community and a more resilient local economy.

We understand where and how we need to accelerate and support existing work to respond to the climate emergency, and what we can do to facilitate the scope and scale of reduction within the community needed to bring about meaningful change.

We know we need to target certain industries, grow our capability and capacity to lead effective and sustained climate programs and advocacy and that barriers to change need to be removed.

Everyone needs to consider their impact, how they can reduce carbon emissions, protect the natural environment and also adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The Climate and Ecological Emergency Response Plan focuses on the following priority areas:

• Support low carbon living
• Future-proofing business and industry
• Transition to sustainable transport
• Draw down or capture carbon from the atmosphere
• Adapt to the impacts of climate change
• Transform Council operations

Have your say

This consultation is now closed.