By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Greater Dandenong is among nine councils backing a new plan to combat climate change impacts in the South East.
South East Councils Climate Change Alliance (SECCCA) – which includes Greater Dandenong – has identified priority projects over the next four years in its blueprint Working Together for Stronger Climate Action.
The member councils – in one of Australia’s manufacturing heartlands – have committed to carbon-dioxide emissions reductions by 5.8 per cent a year until 2037.
The priority projects include a business energy support program, residential home resilience ratings tool and small business climate adaptation toolkit.
Climate impacts are expected to lead to more extreme weather events, such as heatwaves expected to increase eight-fold by 2050.
In the same period, rainfall is forecast to reduce by up to 10 per cent while one-in-100 flood events are expected to rise.
As a result, costs are also expected to rise – such as maintaining roads and drains, rising energy costs and insurance premiums, and more pressure on medical and support services.
Greater Dandenong chief executive Jacqui Weatherill said the council was taking action on all of the SECCCA strategies.
“Council welcomes any additional action undertaken by others to address this significant global issue.”
To date, the council was transitioning all of its electricity usage to renewable energy, boosting its tree planting on council land and supporting the community to adapt to climate change impacts, Weatherill said.
It had also declared a climate and ecological emergency, and developed a Sustaintability Strategy and Climate Emergency Strategy.
The SECCCA blueprint also includes transitioning council fleets to electric or hydrogen heavy-duty vehicles, reviewing the vulnerability of council assets, expanding the environmentally sustainable design Brief Ezy tool, a climate risk mitigation program for councils, advocacy on climate action, and purchasing carbon offsets.
SECCCA chair Michael Whelan, who is also Bass Coast Shire mayor, said the strategy was an “exciting new step for our region”.
“SECCCA has taken a whole of community view, to work together and come up with practical steps to help mitigate and manage climate risk in our region,” Cr Whelan said.
“This strategy charts the path for our members to work together and with our community to address climate change in our region.”
Climate Action Minister Lily D’Ambrosio joined council leaders as well as groups South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance, Footy for Climate Alliance and Insurance Council of Australia for the SECCCA plan launch on Wednesday 8 November.
Other SECCCA councils are Bass Coast, Casey, Cardinia Shire, Kingston, Mornington Peninsula Shire, Frankston, Bayside and Port Phillip.
