Local Government Climate Emergency Toolkit released

Now that most of the Eurobodalla troglodytes and flat earth councillors are about to exit Stage Right with their views that there is no Climate Emergency and that weather is simply "variable and changing" we might now hope for a more intelligent debate in Council chambers after the December 2021 Local Government Elections. New version of the ‘Local Government Climate Emergency Toolkit’ released

Climate emergency action at a local government level is critical. Since its publication in November 2020 the Local Government Climate Emergency Toolkit has been access over 3,000 times and shared among activists, community groups, officers and councillors across Australia and internationally. After reviewing feedback from stakeholders the toolkit has undergone numerous changes and a new version is now available for download. Version 2.0 has been released to coincide with the start of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow. Readers are encouraged to copy, distribute and adapt this work under terms as detailed in the toolkit. The toolkit will continue to be reviewed into the future to ensure actions maintain appropriate ambition and relevance. What’s Changed? Key changes are focused on improvements to the readability of the document and expansion and improvements to the recommended actions. Readability Feedback on the layout and readability has resulted in updating the document to a single A4 version, with easier to read fonts and making it easier to search for actions with contents, objective titles and numbers. Actions The toolkit has expanded from 30 key actions to 46 with refinements to wording and additional actions across all seven sectors. Key changes include; · Strengthened community engagement, support and forums · Greater utilisation of traditional owner expertise and knowledge · Ensuring communications are easy to access and in languages other than English · Waste and procurement being updated to circular economy to better reflect the breadth of actions contained · A greater focus on asset planning and bulk buying opportunities across energy and transport · Rate rebate opportunities for gas disconnections and biodiversity improvements · Capturing benefits from pest animal and weed management, energy storage pilots and air travel reduction. For further information or to organise a presentation to your council please contact Dale at info@lgcet.com. You can download the latest version of the toolkit free here.

This toolkit has been developed in consultation with industry experts, council employees, community groups, campaigners and both current and former councillors. It was developed by Dale Martin after serving four years as councillor in the City of Moreland, Victoria, Australia and after successful efforts advocating and campaigning on a range of issues, including co-founding and campaigning on the ‘Plastic Bag Free Victoria’ campaign with community groups right across the state of Victoria.

The toolkit has been designed to provide an understanding of local government, it’s decision makers, key documents and accompanied by specific and measurable recommendations, with suggested time frames to address the climate emergency. Actions are designed to be easily implemented with information on who can implement them, how they can be implemented and by what method.

This toolkit will be reviewed frequently to ensure actions maintain appropriate ambition and relevance. We look forward to collaborating with you to ensure this toolkit has the greatest potential to address the climate emergency.

This work is licenced under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International. You are welcome and encouraged to copy, distribute and adapt this work using attribution requirements and licencing terms that can be found here.

For more information about this document contact the author Dale Martin at info@lgcet.com or on LinkedIn.