Darwin Council to protect $1 billion of assets from ‘climate emergency’

DARWIN council will use the ‘climate emergency’ as motivation to protect more than $1 billion worth of its community assets

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DARWIN Council will use the climate emergency as motivation to protect more than $1 billion worth of its assets.

With the council’s draft climate emergency response and strategy now open for consultation, Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis said failure to immediately address climate change could cause irreparable damage to the local environment and infrastructure.

“As the custodians of more than $1bn 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,” he said.

Sydney visitor Lidia Gubareva cools off at the waterfront ... Darwin Council will use the climate emergency as motivation to protect more than $1 billion worth of its assets. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford

“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.”

Consultation on the draft strategy opened on Wednesday and continues until February 11, designed to inform an action plan to promote a “resilient and prosperous city”.

Since Mr Vatskalis declared a climate emergency in 2019, the council has facilitated an audit of emissions produced across the Darwin metropolitan area, determining the city is responsible for producing approximately two million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually across transport (60 per cent), electricity (34 per cent) and waste (6 per cent).

Mr Vatskalis said the strategy would look at several measures that address how the climate was impacting Darwin.

Darwin Mayor Kon Vatskalis with one or the trees planted on Daly St as part of the CBD beautification project. Picture: Che Chorley

“Our aim is to mitigate the impacts of climate change including to human health, ecosystems, infrastructure, the local economy and most importantly to our ratepayers,” he said.

The strategy details 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 25 November to 11 February and inform Council’s action plan to promote a resilient and prosperous city.

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