Adelaide City Council joins worldwide climate change movement
Adelaide City Council has joined dozens of councils across Australia by committing to take stronger action on climate change.
Adelaide City Council has joined an international movement by declaring a climate emergency.
Cr Robert Simms, backed by Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor, spontaneously brought the proposal to last night’s meeting, with elected members voting nine to one to join at least 36 councils across Australia that have committed to take stronger action on climate change.
It comes after the council was last week briefed about the implications of climate change on its service delivery, with audit committee head David Powell telling elected members to consider it an “emerging financial risk” over the next decade.
Ms Verschoor would now “advocate” to other tiers of government through the Capital City Committee to “understand, disclose and manage risks related to climate change.”
Cr Simms, a former Greens senator, moved that climate change poses a serious risk to the people of Adelaide and should be treated as a national emergency.
“This is an example of Adelaide leading the climate crisis and a win for all those who care about the need to take action on a threat we face,” Cr Simms said.
“We heard last week about the impacts that will flow from climate change to our city, we know it has the potential to affect our property values and our insurance premiums and we know it will have an impact on liveability.
“We have a responsibility to our residents and our ratepayers to take action and to advocate for other levels of government to step up and do the same.”
The council now joins four other capital city councils — Hobart, Darwin, Melbourne and Sydney — who have declared an emergency.
More than 900 councils and other agencies have called emergencies worldwide.
It is the fourth South Australian council to support the initiative, following Adelaide Hills, Gawler and Light Regional councils.
Cr Simms originally pushed for the climate emergency in March, however, that was knocked back amid concerns ratepayers would not want to pay for initiatives to combat climate change.
Cr Jessy Khera opposed Cr Simms’ push because he believed it was a “set up” and “stitch up”, saying councillors should have had more time consider the push.
“Voters react with quiet anger when they see councils engage in this type of activism,” Cr Khera said about the declaration after the meeting.
“The Lord Mayor has just done her bit to help the re-election of Scott Morrison.”
Ms Verschoor said climate change had to be taken seriously.
“Every state was affected by the effects of climate change in the past year, whether it was a flood, drought or incredibly high temperatures … it is front and foremost on our agenda,” she said.
The council budgeted $1.6 million this financial year for climate change programs and projects.
It has had a long-time commitment to managing and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The council aspires to be Australia’s first carbon neutral city.