Greens councils slammed for being fossil fools over treaty push

A push by Melbourne’s Greens-dominated councils to back a treaty to phase out fossil fuels has been slammed as “attention-seeking”, with councillors told to focus on local issues.

A motion by Yarra Greens councillor and former mayor Amanda Stone said getting rid of fossil fuels would ensure ‘a global just transition for all’. Picture: AAP

Greens-dominated councils have been criticised for signing up to an international campaign to lobby governments to ratify “non-proliferation treaties” against fossil fuels.

Moreland, Yarra and Darebin councils have backed the push – among only 11 local governments or cities around the world to do so.

Moreland, which includes Brunswick and Coburg, was the first Australian municipality to sign up, joining the likes of Los Angeles, Vancouver and Barcelona.

“Like the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which addresses another global threat, this international initiative aims to address global warming by phasing out fossil fuels across the world,” a Moreland statement said.

A motion by Yarra Greens councillor and former mayor Amanda Stone said getting rid of fossil fuels would ensure “a global just transition for all”. Her motion called on the council to lobby Foreign ­Minister Marise Payne and Greens local federal member and party leader Adam Bandt on the issue.

Ms Stone said that global organisation the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative wanted local councils to publicise the campaign and “put pressure on national governments”.

The group’s director is Alex Rafalowicz, whose biography says he has a law degree from the Australian National University.

A motion by Yarra Greens councillor and former mayor Amanda Stone called on the council to lobby Foreign ­Minister Marise Payne. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

It said that Colombia-based Mr Rafalowicz had been a “climate justice” policy analyst and campaigner for 15 years, including with the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice and Climate Action Network.

Only 11 global city and local governments have endorsed the campaign, with four of them from Australia, including the ACT.

Evan Mulholland, communications director at free market think-thank the Institute of Public Affairs, said: “This is an attention-seeking stunt by inner-city councils who continue to push in areas they have no responsibility for.”

“Bins are overflowing on the streets of Yarra due to the council’s botched recycling changes, and this is the kind of nonsense it is focusing on.”

Mr Mulholland said Australia contributed less than 1.3 per cent to global carbon emissions. “Darebin, Yarra and Moreland emissions are a tiny fraction of that, so their activism won’t actually make any difference,” he said.

Darebin councillors unanimously backed the campaign in June after a motion was put by Greens councillors Susanne Newton and Trent McCarthy.

Yarra passed a similar motion on Tuesday night.

[e-mail]