October, 2010

 

Local government will play a key role in activating and supporting community action on climate change causes and impacts and ICLEI Oceania is well placed given its role over the past decade in facilitating local council understanding of the issues and opportunities related to global warming and mobilizing their involvement in reducing their corporate and community greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Today there is again the need to mobilize local leadership and the most effective and efficient way to do this is to re-engage with local councils through the CCP program and establish ‘climate mayors Victoria’. To do this will require a series of regionally based forums across the State that brings together mayors, councilors and community leaders to map out their regional and municipal plans for dissemination and replicating best practice activities that have and are occurring at both council and community levels. This will be followed up with events, workshops and training for Mayors in order for them to provide local leadership on this issue.

 

To support the forums and the mobilization of councils across the State there will be a dedicated website portal – ‘climate mayors’, to inform local representatives of climate change challenge and the local opportunities and issues in addressing energy, waste, transport and agriculture.

 

In the current political environment where consensus building is needed to regain lost ground, local leaders need to be provided with up to date and accessible information and a capacity to share their local experiences and actions. The role of mayors and councillors will be fundamental to local community climate action to reduce emissions and their resilience and adaptation to local climate change impacts.

 

The ‘climate mayors’ website will be accessible to councils through a simple user name and passcode arrangement for regular up dates on current and future climate change actions, to seek responses from the network of peers on their experiences and to respond to specific queries and questions. The website will inform the wider community including other levels of government on the work of local councils.