Darwin council’s “climate emergency” employee to be retained for 12 months

DARWIN council’s climate emergency officer is set to receive a 12 month contract extension, despite being employed for just three weeks

Darwin council will retain their climate emergency project officer for a year, despite him being in the job for just a few weeks.

DARWIN council’s climate emergency project officer is set to receive a 12 month contract extension, despite being employed for just three weeks.

Born in Darwin, inaugural council climate emergency project officer Eric Lede will earn the equivalent of $110,000 a year including has officially been signed for three months, during which time they will earn $27,500 from ratepayers.

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The job description advertised last year will primarily look to influence behavioural changes within council and reduce internal emissions but would also work with the community in building campaigns related to a climate emergency.

A council spokeswoman said the officer was likely to remain with council for at least a year to ensure any strategies implemented in the first quarter were followed through.

“The current contract is for three months, however Council have endorsed a dedicated staff member to drive the development of this response,” she said.

“It is anticipated that this contract will be extended for at least 12 months to ensure the plan is finalised and commences implementation across Council operations.”

The climate emergency officer has been in the role for three weeks, during which time they have met with a number of teams across Darwin council to understand how they work and can adjust operations according to council’s climate emergency.

“During this time, they have commenced developing a basic framework for what will form the climate change response which will be presented to Council,” the spokeswoman said.

“The draft approach is currently exploring a range of methods for addressing the climate emergency including identifying actions for avoiding emissions, reducing emissions and reporting on emissions in order to reach net-zero emissions by 2030.”

Council was confident in Mr Lede’s environmental experience as well their understanding of a Darwin lifestyle.

“The successful applicant was born and raised in Darwin before leaving to acquire degrees in Environmental Sustainability and Geography,” the spokeswoman said.

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“They have since developed a wealth of international, cross-cultural experience after having worked across a range of climate change adaptation and mitigation programs in the Canadian Arctic, islands of Papua New Guinea, and Northern Australia.”

In the original job description, council said its positions came with “generous entitlements and benefits” including six weeks annual leave, 15 days personal leave, district allowance and salary sacrifice options.