Yarra's Climate Emergency Plan 2024-2030

At the Council Meeting on 9 July 2024, Yarra City Council adopted our second Climate Emergency Plan with scaled up ambition and a focus on supporting communities most at risk from climate impacts.

Yarra’s new Climate Emergency Plan 2024-2030 is our assurance that we’ve heard the calls from our community for greater climate action, and for a more equitable and just society.

We're proud to continue to be a leader on climate action in the local government sector and we are committed to embedding climate action in everything we do.

The new Plan recognises that the scale of ambition must match the scale of the problem to realise our vision of a climate safe, sustainable and just society.

Visit the Yarra City Council website to read more about our ambitious new Climate Emergency Plan.

Climate Action Plan 2024-2027

Between 2024 and 2030 we will deliver two three-year Action Plans, which will map the actions we plan to take to achieve these transformations.

5 key perspectives

In the plan, we've integrated 5 key perspectives which respond to current and emerging challenges across our community, natural environment, and economy:

• Centering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experiences and knowledges
• Fostering social justice and equity
• The rights of young people and future generations
• The rights of nature
• A commensurate climate emergency response.

These key perspectives inform the strategy, transformations, objectives and the action plan that will help us meet the ambitious targets set in the Climate Emergency Plan.

7 Transformations

The Climate Emergency Plan 2024-2030 focuses on 7 key areas:

1. Embedding proactive climate responses in the ways we govern and work and supporting our community to do the same in their everyday lives.
2. Prioritising support for community members at greater risk from climate impacts to ensure they are connected, supported, and empowered to build resilience.
3. Building partnerships and empowering our community to advocate for stronger climate policies, targets and actions and an equitable future for all.
4. Achieving net zero emissions by 2035 by delivering innovative programs and initiatives that reduce energy use and support the transition to all-electric homes, businesses, industry and transport.
5. Collaborating with Traditional Owners as decision-makers and partners in caring for Country, connecting our community with nature, and improving biodiversity and climate resilience in the natural environment.
6. Ensuring everyone in Yarra lives and works in comfortable and climate-safe homes and buildings, supported by climate resilient public spaces and infrastructure.
7. Transitioning to a circular economy by supporting our community to consume less, repair, share, and repurpose more and send less waste to landfill.

Each transformation has objectives, indicators and 2030 targets to help guide our actions and make sure we are delivering a strong climate emergency response.

Community engagement

In April and May we asked you to share your thoughts on our ambitious draft Climate Emergency Plan 2024-2030.

The draft plan was developed using feedback from the first stage of community engagement in late 2023, where we heard your ideas, stories, comments and suggestions about the future you want to see and what taking strong action looks like to you.

• Read the Stage 1 Engagement Report (PDF)
• Read the Stage 2 Engagement Report (PDF)

You can read more about both stages of community consultation in the sections below.

This consultation is closed - thanks to everyone who contributed. Your feedback helped shape the draft Climate Emergency Plan 2024-2030.

Our current Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2024 is ready for a reboot. It's time to develop the next plan which will underpin our response to the climate crisis in the years to come and ramp up our ambition.

We know addressing the climate crisis is a top priority for the Yarra community and that you want us to do more. We want our community to be part of the climate solutions we develop, every step of the way.

In late 2023 we asked you to provide feedback as by:

• sharing your ideas, stories, comments and suggestions about the future you want to see and what taking strong action looks like to you
• completing the online survey

We used your ideas, suggestions and contributions to develop a draft Climate Emergency Plan which we will share with the community for feedback in April-May 2024.

Who did we hear from?

• 24,000 people were reached via email, social media & face-to-face interactions.
• 138 people particularly vulnerable to climate impacts or working in partnership with people experiencing vulnerability were consulted.
• More than 2000 visits were made to this page.
• 203 contributions to the online survey and ideas board.

What we heard

We’ve heard from the Yarra community that you want us to be bold and ambitious in our response to the climate emergency. This was made clear through your submissions to the online survey, and in the range of insightful public comments on the ideas board below.

Through the consultation we gained a clearer understanding of community priority areas, which led to a reshaping of the 8 key themes into the 7 transformations that appear in the draft Climate Emergency Plan.

Tell us your ideas!

We’ve heard from the Yarra community that you want us to be bold and ambitious in our response to the climate emergency. To help us get there we want you to tell us your ideas and suggestions.

We've identified these 8 themes to help guide us in our climate emergency response:

Think about these themes and tell us what sort of future you want to see. What does taking strong action look like to you?

Share your ideas, stories, comments and suggestions! Use the button below to post your story.

Please Note: This tool uses a moderation system so you may not see your response right away.

All responses received will be recorded and kept in line with our Privacy Policy. All responses, regardless of their presence in the public realm will be kept and considered as part of this consultation.

Some responses may not be published if there is specific wording used that may be deemed offensive to some people or the question contains personal or sensitive information. Responses that do not directly relate to the climate emergency will also not be published.

Any comments that fall outside of this topic should be directed to Council's traditional customer services channels.

This consultation is closed - thanks to everyone who contributed. We have analysed your feedback and used it to finalise Yarra's next Climate Emergency Plan.

The Climate Emergency Plan has been developed in partnership with our community. Last year, we asked you for your ideas on the future you want to see and what taking strong action looks like to you.

Your feedback has helped inform the development of the draft Climate Emergency Plan 2024-2030. Yarra's draft Climate Emergency Plan (2024-2030) builds on the existing Plan and ramps up the ambition.

5 key perspectives

In the plan, we've integrated 5 key perspectives which respond to current and emerging challenges across our community, natural environment, and economy:

• Centering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experiences and knowledges
• Fostering social justice and equity
• The rights of young people and future generations
• The rights of nature
• A commensurate climate emergency response.

These key perspectives inform the strategy, transformations, objectives and the action plan that will help us meet the ambitious targets set in the Climate Emergency Plan.

The 7 Transformations

We have identified 7 transformations across society that must happen for us reach our collective vision of a climate-safe, just, sustainable, and caring society.

Each transformation has objectives, indicators and 2030 targets to help guide our actions and make sure we are delivering a strong climate emergency response.

Action plans

Between 2024 and 2030 we will deliver two three-year Action Plans, which will map the actions we plan to take to achieve these transformations.

Have your say

Take a look at the draft Climate Emergency Plan 2024-2030 and tell us if you think that the objectives chosen for each of the 7 transformations will help us deliver a bold and ambitious climate response.

• Read the draft Climate Emergency Plan 2024-2030 (PDF)
• View the Climate Emergency Plan Snapshot (PDF)
• See the draft Climate Emergency Plan - Actions 2024-2027 (PDF)

The survey closed at 9am on Monday 6 May 2024.

Share your song of choice!

Throughout consultations with our community, we've asked everyone to contribute a song to our Climate Action Playlist.

This might be a song which motivates you to take climate action, it might be a song which reminds you of a beautiful place in nature, it might be a song which in some other way, connects you to the issue of climate change.

You're welcome to email your song title and the artist name to [email protected] or if you have a Spotify login, add your song to our Spotify playlist.

We hope that you find it inspirational, motivating, soothing, or whatever you need it to be as you take climate action and work towards a better future.

Wurundjeri Council

We are consulting with the Wurrunjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation as we build Yarra's next Climate Emergency Plan.

For over 60,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations have cared for country across this continent.

We believe that in this moment of crisis, we must adopt Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge and practices to guide the way towards a regenerative relationship with our environment, build resilience and share in the benefits of a transition to a greener economy.

We all want to live in a healthy and just community where everyone is supported, no matter their age, background, ability or circumstances. A world where people and nature thrive together, now and into the future.

But right now, we are living in a climate crisis, driven by burning fossil fuels, land clearing, and excessive waste.

Here in Yarra, we are seeing our unique plants and wildlife disappear before our eyes. People in our community are suffering the impacts of more frequent and intense heatwaves and storms – and those most at risk are bearing the brunt of it.

This moment of crisis is a moment for hope – from crisis comes transformation. The solutions are here and now, and every day we get bolder and more courageous and the number of people taking action grows.

What are we already doing to tackle the Climate Emergency?

Local councils have a unique role in addressing the climate emergency with their deep understanding of community needs, close relationships with community groups and local businesses and ability to influence planning and environmental outcomes.

Yarra was one of the first Councils to declare a climate emergency. Our declaration recognised that the planet’s climate is already too hot and that effort is needed across all levels of government, businesses, and communities to address the climate crisis.

Together with our community, we have achieved so much through our Climate Emergency Plan 2020-24.

Our community is reducing emissions by switching to renewable energy in droves, reducing waste and recycling by thousands of tonnes a year, moving to a more plant-based diet and standing up and speaking out for political action and climate justice.

Already we have:

But if we want to create a safe and just future where people and nature thrive, all levels of government must do more, and faster, to address it. Our community has told us time and time again that addressing the climate crisis is a top priority and that Council should do more.