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Climate emergency declaration and plan

Darebin was the first government in the world to declare a climate emergency. This led to a global movement which has now seen more than 2500 governments around the world make formal declarations that the climate crisis is an emergency that requires urgent action by all levels of government.

Darebin's Climate Emergency Plan 2024–30

Our work to tackle the climate crisis is guided by our Climate Emergency Plan 2024–2030, which was passed unanimously by Council on 22 July 2024. This Plan is the second Climate Emergency Plan since Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2016.

In our consultations with more than 1500 people across Darebin, we heard the strong message that Darebin residents and organisations want urgent action on climate change as well as support for those most impacted by the climate crisis.

Our ambitious, strategic and sector-leading Plan will support Council and community to take that strong action to reduce emissions, keep our community safe and help our city thrive.

Download our Climate Emergency Plan 2024–2030(PDF, 19MB).

Summary of the Climate Emergency Plan 2024–30

Our Climate Emergency Plan has four pillars, which represent our areas of focus, and 3–4 goals under each pillar:

1. Caring for Country

Goals:

Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung cultural knowledge is embedded and reflected in Council's approach to conservation, biodiversity and land management
Darebin's natural environment is diverse, resilient and thriving
Darebin's neighbourhoods are green, safe and liveable

2. Towards Zero Emissions

Goals:

Darebin has transformed into a clean, liveable city that supports the transition to zero-emissions
Darebin is achieving best practice environmentally sustainable development (ESD) outcomes and aiming for zero carbon buildings and assets
Darebin is moving towards zero-emissions transport, and reducing congestion and dependence on cars
Darebin is building a local circular economy that reduces waste and supply chain emissions

3. Community Resilience

Goals:

Darebin is developing and delivering best-practice climate planning for buildings, infrastructure and public spaces in Darebin
Darebin is building a stronger and more connected community through climate projects and programs
Public health risks are managed improving Darebin’s emergency management response and preparedness for severe and extreme weather events.

4. Innovation and Leadership

Goals:

Innovation and impact in climate response is driven through strategic advocacy and collaboration
Darebin is a leader in climate focused and innovative economic solutions
Our climate commitment is integrated into every aspect of Council work, inspiring community action

What does a climate emergency mean?

The climate crisis is a global crisis that requires urgent action by all levels of government. The warming of our planet and changes to weather patterns are the result of the build-up of greenhouse gases (or emissions) such as carbon dioxide and methane in our atmosphere. This build up is due to our heavy reliance on burning fossil fuels (petrol, gas and coal) for energy generation, and in transport, agriculture and construction. This Snapshot Report shows the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Darebin.

Climate change has increased at an unprecedented rate over the past decade, resulting in more extreme weather events including flooding, bushfires, droughts and extreme storms, with these events becoming increasingly common in Australia and globally. Climate change is already impacting everyone within the Darebin community, and every part of Council’s operations and services.

Impacts of extreme weather events can include:

long heatwaves with several days in a row over 40 degrees celsius leading to health issues and/or making it difficult to leave your home
lower air quality from bushfire smoke over summer
major flooding reducing access to places and community and creating severe damage to homes and businesses
storm events cutting out power, damaging property and risking lives
impacts to food growing and access leading to a reduction in fresh food.

For Council’s operations and services, climate change could mean reduced service delivery during extreme events, difficulty accessing community members to provide support, and increased costs to ensure our buildings and infrastructure are safe for the community.

Planning ahead to ensure that our community is safe and can thrive is an important responsibility of local government. Our Climate Emergency Plan 2024–2030 helps us to focus and coordinate our efforts, and engage everyone in our community to be part of the solution.

Get involved

While it can feel overwhelming at times, there’s so much we can each do to act on climate change. When we all play our part, we inspire each other and our impact grows.

Find out more about what you can do to get active on climate.