Stand with local leaders

Stand with local leaders

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Mayors and Councillors from 31 communities around Australia are banding together to call for urgent national support in the wake of climate-fuelled disasters. 

Add your name today to amplify their call.

Extreme weather costs have more than doubled since the 1970s and it's communities on the ground that are left paying the price. Councils and communities are exhausted by ongoing clean up costs and challenges from damaging floods, intense storms and devastating fires, which will become more frequent, and more severe as climate change accelerates. We must act now to deeply and rapidly cut emissions and build community resilience. 

Click here to read the full statement, and add your name today in support of these local leaders.

Mayors and Councillors from 31 communities around Australia are banding together to call for urgent national support in the wake of climate-fuelled disasters. 

Add your name today to amplify their call.

Extreme weather costs have more than doubled since the 1970s and it's communities on the ground that are left paying the price. Councils and communities are exhausted by ongoing clean up costs and challenges from damaging floods, intense storms and devastating fires, which will become more frequent, and more severe as climate change accelerates. We must act now to deeply and rapidly cut emissions and build community resilience. 

Click here to read the full statement, and add your name today in support of these local leaders.

Stand with local leaders

Add your name today to support local leaders and amplify their call for more urgent, national support in the wake of climate-fuelled disasters. 

Extreme weather is hurting Australia, and our communities are paying the price.

Heavy rain, flooding, strong winds and storm surges are damaging communities, endangering residents, and costing millions of dollars in clean-up costs.

In some regions schools and businesses have been forced to close, the lights have gone out, roads cut off, access to fresh water and food limited and thousands of homes destroyed. Many can no longer afford insurance and will be left with little.

Many communities also experienced the Black Summer bushfire season of 2019-20. The impacts of climate change and extreme weather are all around us.

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change makes it abundantly clear that climate change is intensifying extreme weather events including rainfall and flooding events like this one, and their frequency is increasing.

We are exhausted by the immediate costs and challenges, and we are worried about what’s to come.

The cost of extreme weather disasters in Australia has more than doubled since the 1970s. If we don’t take urgent action, floods could cost us $40 billion per year by 2060. [1]

We are among the sunniest and windiest countries on earth. We have the natural resources to become a world leader in renewable energies like solar and wind, and can create hundreds of thousands of jobs along the way.

Local governments are working together with their communities to take action against climate change and build resilience. But we need more support. 

We call on the federal government to:

  1. Lead the country in delivering on an ambitious emissions reduction target this decade, in partnership with state and local governments, to respond to accelerating climate change at the scale and pace required.
  2. Increase funding sources to councils for responding to climate impacts, and cutting greenhouse gas emissions, including providing a minimum of $200 million a year in the form of a disaster mitigation fund and an additional $200 million over four years for a local government climate response partnership.[2]
  3. Invest in preparing before climate disasters strike and take responsibility for coordination of climate impact responses to ensure consistency and clearly delineated responsibilities between different levels of government.
  4. Ensure all disaster response funding extends to all damaged assets and incorporates the principle of “betterment” to allow cities and communities to be rebuilt in a way that takes into account the inevitable future changes in climate and makes them more resilient.
  5. Establish a national body, or expand the remit of an existing one, to support research on adaptation and act as a centralised hub for up-to-date climate change information.

Mayors and councillors signed on to the statement: 

Local Government networks

  • Dr Portia Odell, Director Cities Power Partnership
  • Darriea Turley AM, President Local Government NSW
  • Amanda Stone, Chair ICLEI Regional Executive Committee
  • Lisa Cliff, Program Director Better Futures Australia
  • Nuatali Nelmes, Chair Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy Oceania

New South Wales

  • Dominic King, Councillor Bellingen Shire Council
  • Michael Lyon, Mayor Byron Shire Council
  • Mark Greenhill OAM, Mayor Blue Mountains City Council
  • Alison Worthington, Councillor Eurobodalla Shire Council
  • Amanda Kotlash, Councillor Hawkesbury City Council
  • Neil Reilly, Mayor Kiama Municipal Council
  • Elly Bird, Councillor Lismore City Council
  • Claire Pontin, Mayor Midcoast Council
  • Nuatali Nelmes, Lord Mayor City of Newcastle
  • Chris Homer, Mayor Shellharbour City Council
  • Amanda Findley, Mayor Shoalhaven City Council
  • Clover Moore, Lord Mayor City of Sydney
  • Jerome Laxale, Councillor City of Ryde 
  • Penelope Pederson, Councillor City of Ryde 
  • Chris Cherry, Mayor Tweed Shire Council
  • Gordon Bradbery AM, Lord Mayor Wollongong City Council

Queensland

  • Darren Power, Mayor Logan City Council
  • Brian Stockwell, Councillor Noosa Shire Council

Tasmania

  • Anna Reynolds, Lord Mayor City of Hobart

Victoria

  • Sally Capp, Lord Mayor City of Melbourne
  • Mark Riley, Mayor Moreland City Council
  • Peter Maynard, Mayor Wyndham City Council
  • Sophie Wade, Mayor Yarra City Council

South Australia 

  • Sandy Verschoor, Lord Mayor City of Adelaide
  • Karen Redman, Mayor Town of Gawler
  • Ann Ferguson, Mayor Mount Barker District Council
  • Michael Coxon, Mayor City of West Torrens
  • Michael Hewitson AM, Mayor City of Unley

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