Darwin Lord Mayor calls for immediate action on Climate Change to mitigate impacts on facilities and environment

November 26, 2020

Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis has described Climate Change as an economic issue and Council’s leadership on this as critical to avoid irreparable damage to infrastructure including aquatic and recreation centres and the environment.

Back in May 2019, Lord Mayor Vatskalis declared a climate emergency, stating he was alarmed at the escalation of climatic issues impacting Darwin and in December he hosted a Climate Emergency Roundtable for community and business leaders.

At the time Lord Mayor Vatskalis made a commitment to identify opportunities to reduce City of Darwin’s greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis now advises “Council needs to take action to address climate change now. Failure to do so carries significant risks including irreparable damage to our environment and infrastructure, rapidly rising insurance costs, financial losses and risk of litigation from inaction.

“As the custodians of more than $1billion in community assets, including swimming pools, community centres, libraries, parks, roads, street lights and an extensive stormwater system, it is incumbent on Council to ensure these assets are protected.

“Identifying economic opportunities is also key and switching to renewable energy is just one way Council can deliver financial savings and ensure rates are kept to a minimum.”

City of Darwin’s Draft Climate Emergency Response and Strategy, which provides a roadmap for how Council plans to address climate change, is now open for stakeholder and community consultation.

Lord Mayor Vatskalis added “Our aim is to mitigate the impacts of climate change including to human health, ecosystems, infrastructure, the local economy and most importantly to our rate payers.”

City of Darwin’s draft Climate Emergency Strategy details Council’s four key goals – promoting resilience and adapting to climate change, identifying economic opportunities, achieving net-zero Council-controlled emissions by 2030 and supporting our community achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.

Consultation on the draft Strategy will take place from 25th November to 11th February, and inform Council’s action plan to promote a resilient and prosperous city.

To provide feedback on City of Darwin’s draft Strategy go to - engage.darwin.nt.gov.au/climate

Image: Solar powered facilites

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