Council urged to declare climate emergency

A GROUP of locals are banding together for the upcoming council meeting to ask the Surf Coast Shire Council to declare a climate emergency.

This is being done as part of the Council and Community Action in the Climate Emergency (CACE) initiative, which has seen over 800 councils declare a state of emergency.

Alex Marshall met with people from CACE to start a movement in the Surf Coast earlier in the year.

She said that declaring an emergency would help moblilise the council and the residents in the area.

“Emergency declaration launches us in action and eliminates the debate on the severity of the crisis.

“It allows the community to discuss one of the biggest issues of our time.”

Ms Marshall also said the council had been supportive of the group, who have attended the last two council meetings dressed in red to show their support for the cause.

For the June meeting around 40 people attended, by the time the next meeting was held in July that number had almost doubled.

At the last meeting they also presented a petition with over 1,000 signatures on it.

The group want the council to acknowledge the climate change emergency and review their strategic plan. They also want council to create a foundation for climate emergency action and implement a climate emergency plan.

The Yarra City Council was the first to declare a climate emergency when they did so in February 2017. Since then councils in London, Quebec and Paris have all followed suit, as the Argentinian Senate.

The group are inviting others to dress in red and join them at the next council meeting.

That meeting will be held at the council shire at 5.30pm on Tuesday August 27.