Climate Emergency Response Plan

About the plan

Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale are already being affected by the impacts of climate change. We face an increasing risk from coastal inundation, sea level rise and bushfires. As a community, we need to act now. That's why we're creating a Climate Emergency Response Plan.

Many residents have already taken action to reduce their impact on the environment, and Council has reduced its emissions by a third since 2013, but we'll have a much greater impact if we come up with a plan to work together. Following its climate emergency declaration last year, Council committed to developing a Climate Emergency Response Plan in partnership with the community. We're now seeking your help to create this important strategy together.

What the plan will do

The Climate Emergency Response Plan sets three ambitious targets to achieve over the next ten years:

1. Our community’s electricity consumption will be matched by a 100% renewable electricity supply by 2025.
2. Our community’s energy needs will be matched by a 100% renewable energy supply by 2027.
3. Our community will have transitioned to a Zero Carbon Community by 2031.

These targets will be achieved by working on 54 action items across the following 8 pillars.

1. Renewable energy
2. Sustainable buildings
3. Sustainable transport
4. Mobilisation, education and collaboration
5. Adaptation and resilience
6. Consumption and waste
7. Environmental regeneration
8. Wadawurrung country, cultural heritage and values

The actions that sit under these Pillars will be reviewed by Council every two years. At the five year mark, a major review of the full Plan will take place.

Click here to read the full plan, including the details of all 54 action items.

Project background

Council declared a climate emergency at the Ordinary Meeting of Council in December 2019. Council's resolution reads:

1. In accordance with our Local Law No.1 section 103 agree to deal with these petitions tonight;
2. Receives the petitions;
3. Declares a Climate Emergency;
4. Declares that climate change poses a serious risk to the Borough of Queenscliffe and Australia and acknowledges the urgent need for action;
5. Notes that the Borough of Queenscliffe is vulnerable to sea level rise and greater climate variability leading to greater risk of more intense disaster events including storms, heat waves, bushfire, flooding and sea surges;
6. Notes that the Borough of Queenscliffe has a strong record of reducing emissions, planning for adaptation and preparing our community for the impacts of climate change;
7. Notes and supports the resolutions adopted at the Australian Local Government Association National General Meeting calling for a federal Government declaration of climate emergency;
8. Develops a Climate Emergency Response plan in partnership with the community, including the Queenscliffe Climate Action Group;
9. Requests officers prepare a report setting out how the Climate Emergency Response Plan will be developed, including the identification of financial and human resources required to prepare the plan. This report is to be tabled at the Council meeting in February 2020;
10. Directs the CEO to write to the Borough of Queenscliffe Audit Committee requesting that it reviews the Audit Committee Charter and makes recommendations to Council to ensure the Charter acknowledges that climate change governance is integral to the Audit Committee’s review of Council’s activities; and
11. Ensures that the impacts of climate change are incorporated into all future reviews of the Council Plan.

In line with this motion, Council has developed a Climate Emergency Response Plan in partnership with the community.

You can read the full context for the CERP's development in the Project Background Document

Consultation history

Council and community representatives worked together to set the community engagement approach for this project. You can read the CERP Strategic Engagement Plan by clicking here.

Consultation timeline

October 2020 - complete
Community members share ideas for goals and actions. Council will collect these ideas and publish a report on what we heard.

November 2020 - complete
The Community Panel, randomly selected from applicants, will thoroughly analyse community ideas and make recommendations for the plan's structure and content.

December 2020 - complete
The plan is drafted using the Community Panel's recommendations.

March 2021 - under way
The draft plan is shared with the community for further feedback.

April/May 2021
The plan is finalised and released to the public. Council considers the plan for adoption.

Stage 1 consultation

Over a three-week period in October 2020, 346 respondents participated in an online survey as part of the initial engagement stage in the development of the Borough of Queenscliffe’s Climate Emergency Response Plan. 12 primary school students from the Borough of Queenscliffe area also participated in a workshop. These early engagements were an opportunity to gain a general understanding of the Borough community’s priorities for the development of a Climate Emergency Response Plan. The results of this survey were presented to a panel of community members, who used the data collected to shape and inform the draft response plan.

Here's a quick summary of what we heard from the community:

Survey respondents were significantly concerned about the impacts of climate change, and are primarily motivated to reduce its impacts on people (including future generations) and the natural environment of the Borough. School students also expressed a desire to be active participants in a climate emergency response.

Renewable energy investment was consistently the most popular project suggestion with both survey respondents and school students. This project suggestion ranked highly in both prompted and unprompted responses, and regardless of who was taking responsibility for the action (both Council-led and community-led renewable energy initiatives were highly popular). Changes to waste management and behaviour also ranked highly for both groups among suggested actions.

Survey respondents also tended to feel the plan should be ambitious, setting targets for Council and the community to become zero-carbon within a decade.

To read the full results of both the survey and the workshop, download a copy of the full results report.

Stage 2 consultation

A community panel was randomly selected from applicants. The panel considered a range of inputs, including the results from the first stage of consultation, before considering the pillars, goals and actions that should be included in the Climate Emergency Response Plan.

The draft CERP released to the public reflects the actions and goals set out by this group.

Document library

Project background document

Climate emergency declaration

Strategic engagement plan

Stage 1 consultation report

Consultation draft CERP (March 2021)