Make Melbourne Green

Above: Hundreds of protesters spell the words “CLIMATE EMERGENCY” in Alexandra Gardens, and Greens Lead Councillor Candidate Dr Cathy Oke with Senator Bob Brown.

Climate Emergency Rally and the Draft Garnaut Report

On Saturday afternoon the Green Melbourne City Council Candidates attended the Climate Emergency Rally organised by a coalition of 60 community groups, including the Greens, that are frustrated with State and Federal government inaction on climate change.

A great turnout sent a clear message that we all want positive action immediately to address the Climate Emergency facing us all. Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown was one of the guest speakers, urging greater Government action NOW!

The rally came a day after Professor Ross Garnaut’s draft report on Climate Change was released - ironic timing given that a day earlier, Premier John Brumby announced another greenhouse gas intensive coal fired power plant for Victoria.

That announcement, along with the desalination plant (which will need enormous amounts of power to feed it), the desired East-West Tunnel, and State and Federal legislative harm done to the growing Australian solar industry, is at total odds with the draft Garnaut Review recommendations.

There are 6 key messages in the Garnaut Review Draft:

1) Climate Change is accelerating at a faster than expected rate;

2) The impacts of climate change will be felt more severely in Australia than most other countries;

3) There needs to be a global commitment to reduce carbon through binding emissions targets - and Australia must play a leading role;

4) We need to set up an emissions trading scheme quickly and it should be inclusive of all industries - delayed action or inaction will impact the economy more severely;

5) Revenue raised by the trading scheme needs to be invested in new technologies aimed at reducing carbon, and in assistance for lower income households to meet increased costs of energy; and

6) New technology investment, advancement and deployment is essential to meet large-scale carbon emission reductions, and investment in new technologies will realise more local jobs and will create a new “green” economy.

We are glad that this report has come out and has highlighted the need act immediately and we eagerly await Minister Penny Wong’s Green Paper which will outline the potential models for an emissions trading scheme.

For our campaign, we are aiming to continue the great work of Greens Councillors on Melbourne City Council over the last two terms towards reducing the City of Melbourne’s carbon emissions. So what does the Garnaut report mean to local government?

Essentially local government is the arm of government that most closely interacts with residents and business. The City of Melbourne must lead in assisting our community in its transition to this new carbon constrained economy, and also deal with many of the local impacts of climate change on our urban environment that are already being felt.

The Melbourne City Greens will be releasing our environmental policies well before November’s election. Some of our actions to address Climate Change within the City of Melbourne will include:

• Enacting the City of Melbourne policy, driven by Greens councillors, for Zero Net Emissions by 2020;

• Large-scale investment in energy-efficiency measures for Council assets and facilities, including street lighting and retrofitting existing buildings;

• Establishing a program for the mass retrofitting of residential and business buildings at lowest possible cost;

• Promoting greater uptake of green power within the municipality; and

• Working with the State Government and surrounding municipalities to start filling in the gaps in Melbourne’s Public Transport Network and timetables.

The full Garnaut report will be released in late September. You can download and read the full Garnaut Climate Change Review - Draft Report here.