Brimbank Climate

Emergency Plan

2020–2025

Let’s co-create our future

Acknowledgment

of Country

Council respectfully acknowledges and

recognises the Kulin Nation including the

Wurundjeri, Bunurong and Boon Wurrung

Peoples as the Traditional Owners of this land

and waterways and pays respect to their Elders

past, present and future.

For the Traditional Owners the lands in the City of

Brimbank have always been a significant trading

and meeting place.

Council also acknowledges local Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander residents of Brimbank and

their Elders for their ongoing contribution to the

diverse culture of our community.

Aboriginal Victorians have a deep understanding

of our environment and landscape, and as such

are very aware of changes occurring on their land

because of climate change.

Registered Aboriginal Parties and other

Traditional Owners groups play an important role

in working with government and communities

to safeguard and pass on knowledge of the

Victorian landscapes and cultural heritage and

to help non-indigenous Victorians understand

the cultural and spiritual significance of Victoria’s

land, water and sky.

Accordingly, Council, in the context of the climate

emergency, will seek to work closely with

Traditional Owners to draw upon their knowledge

and skills as the custodians and voice of Country.

Traditional Owner leadership will be essential to

help care for our municipality, and to help all local

people to develop a connection to, and ethic of

caring for Country as required by Council’s climate

emergency position statement. It is everyone’s job

to care for Country.

Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025 1

Contents

Foreword

2

Executive Summary

3

Scope and Purpose

5

Vision and Outcome

5

Planning Hierarchy and Funding

6

Emission Targets

6

Council Position Statement

7

Principles of the Climate Emergency Lens

8

COVID-19 and the Climate Emergency

9

Background

10

The Problem and Solution

10

Risks

10

Opportunities

11

The Global Policy Context

12

Emission Reduction Analysis and Pathway

13

Australia and Victoria

13

Brimbank

13

Plan Development and Pledge

15

Key Advocacy Goals

15

Themes for Action

16

People Power: Growing our Voice

17

100% Renewable: Growing our Energy

18

Resilient Rebuild: Growing our Strength

19

Green and Cool: Growing our Wellness

20

Circular Economy: Growing our Prosperity

21

Implementation, Monitoring and Reporting

22

Action Plan

23

2 Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025

Foreword

The global ecological and climate emergency is

mobilising communities everywhere. Many people,

including Brimbank residents, are speaking up to

demand urgent action.

For individuals, businesses and governments it

is past time to embrace humility. This means we

must acknowledge and embrace our reliance upon,

interdependence with, and responsibility to care for

our planet. We must define and actualise sustainable

development. We must acknowledge the urgency of the

climate emergency and act.

Council’s declaration of a climate emergency in June

2019 is a bold, but necessary and required action. Just

as people are taking active steps to align their own life

with a climate friendly future, so must businesses and

governments, and by extension, whole municipalities,

cities and nations. Cities such as Brimbank are the global

climate leaders.

The

includes

overarching governance principles that require Council

to consider the social, environmental and economic

sustainability of the municipality, to reduce greenhouse

gas emissions, and plan for climate change risks.

The

requires Council

to consider climate change in our long-term municipal

health and wellbeing plan, Brimbank 2040. It also

encourages Council to make a public pledge to reduce

emissions across the municipality.

Council’s advocacy platform, Transforming Brimbank

- Environmental Agenda, acknowledges that our

community has long bore the brunt of Victoria’s

industrial, waste storage and transport needs. No longer.

Our recompense should be significant Federal and State

government investment in Brimbank’s sustainability and

environment.

The climate crisis is not going away. Indeed, the level of

risk is ratcheting upwards each day. From the heatwaves,

bushfires and COVID-19 emergencies that punctured

our lives in 2020, we must lean in and learn, and bounce

forward, not just bounce back.

We are not powerless. We can solve the climate

emergency and ensure positive climate measures

contribute to our economic and social recovery from

the COVID-19 pandemic, making our municipality rich in

jobs, industry, energy, liveability, equity and community.

Brimbank can become an oasis of sustainable living.

Climate action can orientate and shape Brimbank’s

collaborative re-creation.

This is the transformational decade. Climate change

must be a lens for all decision making, by all aspects

of society. Our democratically elected Council will lead

by example, orientated by its position statement and

principles in this Plan.

Importantly, our people are experiencing climate change

not only as a fast-moving natural disaster but also as

the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. We

must care for our vulnerable as we create opportunities

out of crisis, and transition to a zero net emissions

resilient world.

The environmental, economic, social and political

implications of global warming are profound. Our

response must be equally profound. Individual

commitment is critical. Council’s top priority is the health,

wellbeing and economic welfare of our community.

Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025 3

Executive

Summary

Globally, we have lost valuable time. ‘Socially just’ climate

action is a necessity and must happen at scale and

speed. We must kick our climate pollution habit ASAP.

The emergency declaration is a symptom and signal of

the need to upscale our response, and to recognise the

concern for what it is: an emergency.

In this moment, we must achieve our emergence

through emergency. This urgent crisis is an opportunity

- an opportunity to create a better, fairer, more

prosperous and liveable Brimbank.

Council operations will target zero net emissions

by 2030. For the Brimbank municipality we will

target zero net emissions by 2040, with an interim

aspirational target of a 70% reduction by 2030.

Our residents and businesses have suffered high energy

bills and other impacts for too long from inadequate

planning and action. Council will prioritise emission

reduction projects that save money for and improve the

health of our people. We need a healthy environment

and a healthy economy - if we do not have both we

cannot have either.

To address the challenge of climate change we must

develop a low-carbon resilient community from within

the existing fabric of our suburban life.

Brimbank is well suited to the intensification of

sustainability programs including water, waste and

energy harvesting programs, increased active transport

connections, and shared public spaces such as libraries

and open reserves for increased social cohesion.

The municipality has excellent rail links and will become

a hub city between Melbourne’s CBD and regional

Victoria and intersecting with the Melbourne Airport.

Our grasslands and watercourses are significant assets,

and we retain a proud history of industry with related

built heritage to conserve and reference as we progress.

Given the degree of climate change already happening,

urgent efforts are required to minimise the impacts of

climatic disasters on the community. There is a critical

need to engage with local emergency and health

services to plan safe responses to extreme weather

events such as heatwaves and to construct early

warning systems that are accessible to the community

with its diverse communication needs.

Brimbank is well placed to be re-envisioned and co

created. The Plan identifies a position statement,

principles, and five themes for action. The position

statement commits Council to, in short:

• Adopt and promote a custodial ethic of Caring for

Country

• Acknowledge the 21st century as a period of climate

emergency and opportunity for positive social

change

• Lead the Brimbank community to zero net emissions

in accordance with climate science

• Position the climate emergency as the strategic focus

of Council operations

• Advocate for genuine science-based leadership from

higher levels of government

Decision-making principles provide the ‘lens’ to

implement this position statement.

4 Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025

The five themes for action outline the themes of work

we are required to do:

• People Power

is about following the optimistic

impulse for positive change together, leaving no one

behind

•

100% Renewable

is about using clean renewable

energy for all our needs, including to heat and

light buildings, transport people and goods, and to

undertake industrial processes

•

Resilient Rebuild

is about smarter, more thermally

comfortable and sustainable buildings, and making

safe connections for low emission transport, such

as public transport, walking and cycling, and electric

vehicles

•

Green and Cool

is about embracing nature as an

ally, caring for biodiversity as our privilege and

responsibility, and being aware that what we eat has

a huge impact on us and on the planet

•

Circular Economy

is about recognising that the

goods and services we use have a big environmental

impact, and so we need to choose and reuse wisely

These five themes capture the impulse for action

based positive change. Change towards improved

environmental, social, and economic equity - and thus

improved wellbeing, resilience, and shared prosperity.

If the five themes for action are addressed together,

Brimbank will contribute towards efforts to limit global

warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in accordance with the

Paris Agreement.

Implementation will influence the future style and

substance of the municipality. This Plan will be a pledge

under the

, and will be

reviewed every year.

The COVID-19 emergency has resulted in unplanned

and consequential disruptions and impacts on our

community. It has also created a realignment with our

core human value of taking care of one another.

Responding to COVID-19 issues and its broad impacts,

by placing our care for one another front and centre,

creates an entry point for a new ‘social contract’.

This new social contract, must for example, include

a broader inclusion of ‘us’ - to include other species,

future generations, and distant populations - and

delineate the far-reaching protections that we expect

from our State and Federal governments in times of

crisis. Implementation of positive change will require a

prescriptive and practical agenda.

This Plan, inclusive of the position statement, principles,

and five themes, provides at our municipal level, a

framework to guide the social and economic stimulus

needed to recover from COVID-19, and address

concurrently the climate emergency.

It provides a framework to build our resilience to current

and future ‘shocks and stresses’, whilst outlining the

themes we need to realise the future we want - a

community that is prosperous, caring, inclusive, strong,

healthy, and fun.

A positive future is only possible if we avert from

the current path towards a climate change induced

existential catastrophe. It is also clear that we are going

to experience dramatic changes in the global climate,

regardless of actions taken in the coming years, and so

need to discern how we will respond to all manner of

crises.

Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025 5

Scope and

Purpose

The scope of the Plan is from 2020 to 2025. It is a plan

for the whole municipality.

Its principal purpose is to outline Council’s position

statement on the climate emergency, with the aim

that this statement orientates social transformation,

with Council taking a municipal leadership role, while

promoting action from, and collaboration with, all

quarters.

The position statement ‘implementation framework’

includes six principles that serve as a climate emergency

decision-making lens, and five themes for action.

Actions include those things that Council can control,

partner and advocate for that affect the climate

emergency and transition to the net zero emission

resilient economy.

Vision and

Outcome

The Brimbank Community Vision 2040 describes the

community’s vision for 2040. Achieving the Brimbank

Community Vision is the long-term outcome sought by

the Plan.

for Council operations by 2030.

for the Brimbank municipality by 2040.

An interim

aspirational

target for the

Brimbank

municipality of

70% less

net annual

emissions

by 2030 (i.e. 731kt CO2-e

for 2030). Based on the

emission profile baseline in

this Plan of 2,438kt CO2-e

(2017 data).

These targets have been set recognising the science on

climate change, the scale and speed of change required

and the opportunities available to achieve deep cuts to

emissions.

Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025 7

Council

Position

Statement

Council adopts and commits to promote a

custodial ethic of caring for Country (land,

water, air and all living beings) as the

necessary ethical foundation for the future,

and commits to engage with Traditional

Owners as core to this undertaking

Council acknowledges the 21st century as a

period of climate emergency, and that this

urgent crisis presents an opportunity for

positive social change

Council commits to lead the Brimbank

community towards a target of zero net

greenhouse gas emissions in accordance

with the contemporary advice of the United

Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change

Council commits to take account of this Plan

in all decision making and to position the

climate emergency response as the focus of

organisational strategic coordination until the

emergency is declared ended

Council commits to advocate for genuine

science-based climate leadership from other

local governments, and from the Victorian and

Australian governments

8 Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025

4. Principle of equity

Decision-making will create opportunities for the

present generation and future generations to adapt

to climate change. In particular, for those people most

vulnerable to the potential impacts of climate change.

The present generation will ensure that the health,

diversity and productivity of the environment is

maintained or enhanced for the benefit of future

generations and that any adverse impacts of climate

change are minimised for future generations.

5. Principle of community engagement

Decision-making will include community involvement

in decisions that may affect members of the

community, including youth, the vulnerable or

marginalised communities.

Communities will be provided with appropriate

information, opportunities to be involved, and

appropriate and adequate public consultation.

6. Principle of compatibility

Decision-making will seek to promote a coherent

policy framework within Victoria; and seek to

achieve cohesion with other municipalities, the

Commonwealth government; and governments

of other countries, international bodies and

organisations

Principles of

the Climate

Emergency Lens

Council, noting the principles outlined in the UN

Framework Convention, and using principles outlined in

as a basis, asserts

the following principles.

These principles form Council’s climate emergency

decision-making ‘lens’. This lens supports the

implementation of Council’s position statement on

the climate emergency:

1. Principle of informed decision-making

Decision-making will be based on the best practicably

available information about the potential effects of

climate change, and the potential contribution of a

decision to reduce the municipality’s greenhouse gas

emissions.

2. Principle of integrated decision-making

Decision-making will integrate the competing long,

medium, and short term environmental, economic,

health and other social considerations relating to

climate change.

3. Principle of risk management

Decision-making will be based on a careful evaluation

of risk. Risk will be allocated in a manner that is easily

seen and understood, and a lack of full scientific

certainty is not a reason to postpone appropriate

measures.

Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025 9

Achieving net zero emissions across the

economy and in every sector still relies on the

four pillars of decarbonisation:

Energy waste

reduction, including

through energy

productivity and

a shift away from

energy-intensive

products and services

100% renewable

electricity

Electrification and

a shift away from

fossil fuels to zero- or

near-zero emissions

alternatives

Non-energy emissions

reductions and

offsetting of

residual emissions

COVID-19 and

the Climate

Emergency

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken lives and affected

the entire economy and community fabric. The response

must provide immediate support for livelihoods; and be

in alignment with, and sustain, the structural changes

needed to achieve medium and long-term community

health and wellbeing, and prosperity.

Embedded in this Plan, decarbonisation is the core task

to resolve the climate emergency. Thus, it is the logical

core task to orientate the COVID-19 recovery.

Maximising the job potential of decarbonisation and

other climate emergency tasks requires understanding

the skills required, and developing effective ways to

facilitate the shift in the labour force and market at the

local level.

Within Brimbank, public and private investment in

medium-scale and small-scale renewable energy, and

mass energy efficiency and waste reduction programs

for households and industry need to form part of a

pandemic recovery package that delivers jobs and

prosperity.

Cities such as Brimbank provide the link between

the global issues of climate change and the

coronavirus, and the required systemic prescriptive

and practical local actions.

International Renewable Energy Agency,

Director-General Francesco La Camera

Source: climateworksaustralia.org

10 Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025

Background

The Earth’s average temperature has increased 1°C since

the industrial revolution commenced in circa 1750AD.

This has occurred principally due to human actions that

have turned carbon stored in solid and liquid forms, such

as ancient coal and oil deposits, into carbon in (invisible)

gas form in the air.

The more carbon and other ‘greenhouse gases’ in the

air the more heat that is trapped, disrupting the stable

climate we have become accustomed to, and enjoyed.

This is called the ‘enhanced greenhouse effect’ because

the human released gases are additional to the natural

level.

We have known about climate change for many decades.

In 1992, the United Nations adopted the Framework

Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). If we had

started reducing emissions steadily from then, the scale

and speed of emission reductions would have been

gradual. However, we did not act. We went in the wrong

direction.

Globally, global warming is now likely to reach 1.5°C

between 2030 and 2052 if warming continues to

increase at the current rate; and three and five degrees

of warming by the end of the century unless we ‘bite the

bullet’ and make significant positive changes.

The Victorian Government projects that Victoria will

be between 1.2°C and 2°C warmer by 2030. CSIRO

projections indicate that Melbourne, by the end of the

century, under a high emissions scenario (3 °C increase

in annual maximum temperature and a 15 percent

decrease in annual rainfall) will have the current climate

of Dubbo, NSW.

Climate change risks will increase with global warming of

1.5°C and ratchet up further with 2°C and beyond. There

is a big difference between these temperature increases

in terms of the health impacts on people, and all other

living things.

To stay within 1.5˚C emissions now need to reduce

dramatically. To reiterate, we are presently drifting

towards a frightening 3˚C or more of warming by the

end of the century.

The key message is that fossil fuels have served their

purpose and are fast approaching their ‘use by date’.

Burning fossil fuels is currently responsible for 79% of

all emissions in Australia. The remainder of emissions

come from non-energy sources such as industrial

processes, product use, agriculture, waste and land use.

Humanity must exit fossil fuels and transition as a

matter of urgency to safe, clean 100% renewable

energy for all power needs, including for heating and

transport. This is the lion’s share of the task and is very

achievable.

Victoria is saturated in renewable energy resources.

There is no technical impediment to a 100% renewable

energy powered Victoria as we already have the

technology. Transitioning to clean electricity will unlock

emission reductions in buildings and in transport,

allowing us to focus on the more difficult non-energy

sectors of the economy.

Sunshine, as the capital of Melbourne’s booming west,

and as the name suggests, is the natural home for a

solar energy business cluster.

The scientific evidence on climate change is clear. It tells

us:

• The scale and level of risk - it threatens civilisation

• The scale of change required - the transformation of

the global economy

• The speed with which this transformation must be

delivered - largely within the next decade

• That the impacts of climate change are felt first and

foremost by those already most vulnerable in our

community - the elderly, the very young, the poor

and homeless, and those with existing medical and

mental health conditions.

Brimbank is significantly vulnerable to the impacts of a

changing climate. This vulnerability is a product of our

place and our people.

Our place is located on a landscape ecosystem known

as the Victorian Volcanic Plains. This rocky landscape

is drier and hotter than other parts of Melbourne.

The ecology has adapted. Grassland flourishes, tree

canopy and shade is low, and unique animals call it

home. Due to human activities, the Victorian Volcanic

Plains is now a highly fragmented, critically endangered

ecological community. The biodiversity extinction crisis

is happening right here and now.

Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025 11

The urban environment that overlays this ecosystem is

subject to the urban heat island effect that influences

all urban areas. In addition, specific and concerning

‘hotspots’, that are the combined product of our built

and natural environment, exist in our municipality. These

hotspots often coincide with areas of socio-economic

vulnerability, and during heatwaves can be several

degrees above the surrounding areas, worsening health

risks.

Our people comprise one of the most culturally diverse

municipalities in Australia – with almost half of our

residents born overseas, from around 160 nations. This

diversity brings strength, but also makes communication

and developing cultural norms more challenging.

This Brimbank specific vulnerability of place and people

means we need to respond as quickly as possible; and

even quicker than many other municipalities. Council, to

deliver on its purpose, must do all that it can to help our

community respond.

Heatwaves are our biggest risk. The impact of an

ongoing and compounding hotter and drier trend will

be significant. Events such as bushfires and associated

smoke will contribute to heatwave impacts. This makes

efforts to cool our community vital, for example, by

drastically increasing tree canopy cover and retaining

water in the landscape.

Water is the biggest general issue for Brimbank. An

important insight is that, whereas climate change is

caused by excess greenhouse gas, water is the principal

medium through which climate change will be felt. This

includes severe drought and violent storms. How we

manage water, and waterway and catchment health, is

critical.

Of note, Australia’s central bank, the Reserve Bank,

has delivered a clear warning that climate change

is exposing the financial system to significant risks

that will rise over time. Financial risk is a significant

supporting reason for climate action at scale and speed.

Strong and effective local action on climate change is in

Brimbank’s best interests. This action will deliver on our

principles such as intergenerational equity and social

justice, and in terms of other measures including health

and sustainable economic development.

Our key challenge is to transition rapidly between a

fossil-fuelled economy that has stopped working to

our benefit and a new clean economy that is 100%

renewable - solar, wind, water - energy powered.

At the same time, whether we like it or not, we will have

to transition from our current climate to a different

climate. Building resilience in the face of changing

climate will require wholesale adaptation, and changes

to the way we live, work and connect with each other.

For example, greater use of public transport and working

from home.

To limit global warming to 1.5°C, rapid and far-reaching

transitions are required in community behaviour, energy,

land use, urban form and infrastructure, and in industrial

production and material use systems.

These issues map the five themes of action in this

Plan. Taking action across these five themes presents

opportunities for positive environmental, social and

economic uplift.

We need to consider this urgent crisis as an opportunity

- an opportunity to create a better, fairer, more

prosperous and liveable Brimbank.

For example, major capital projects in the Sunshine

Priority Precinct will drive growth and opportunity.

Investment in the Sunshine Hospital will see health

and care services expand in the precinct. Education

will follow this lead, and metro, regional and airport rail

connections will bring thousands of people to Sunshine

daily.

Council’s 2020 Transforming Brimbank- Environmental

Agenda outlines the opportunities to help make

Brimbank a more green, sustainable and more

environmentally friendly place as part of these

investments.

, sought independent expert

advice (the Combet Report) on interim emissions reduction

targets for 2025 and 2030, to set Victoria on a path to

achieving zero net emissions by 2050. This advice took into

consideration the aforementioned IPCC SR1.5 report and

Climate Change Authority advisory target for Australia.

The Combet Report recommended targets for Victoria are:

• 32-39% below 2005 levels in 2025

• 45-60% below 2005 levels in 2030

The Combet Report states that if Victoria is to do its

share to pursue efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C

(interpreted as a 50/50 chance of achievement) an

emission target is required of 67% below 2005 by 2030.

In short, the Combet Report’s recommendations fail to

comply with the Paris Agreement commitment to pursue

efforts to limit temperature increases to 1.5°C.

14 Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025

Whilst these projects have proven very effective in

reducing Council’s energy costs and emissions, achieving

the 50% reduction target requires a decarbonisation of

Council’s grid sourced electricity supply.

In this context, the decarbonisation of energy contracts

(e.g. by moving to 100% renewable electricity) was a

key action proposed following a review of the Brimbank

Greenhouse Gas Reductions Strategy in 2018.

Accordingly, Council is planning to move to 100%

renewable electricity in its own operations by 2021 as

part of a collaborative power purchase agreement with

other Victorian councils.

While Council can continue to undertake its own actions,

and to partner and advocate to the broader community

for positive change, a cross-sectoral approach - with

residents, business and industry - is required for

substantial emissions reductions throughout the

municipality. To this end, as this is the first plan we have

prepared for municipal emissions:

A key action in this Plan is to prepare a zero net

emissions pathway and program for Council and for

our municipality as a whole.

This pathway will tell us specifically where we need

to focus as a community, sector by sector, to reduce

emissions. Equitable solutions must be a priority if there

is to be sustainable development.

Brimbank

2017 municipal emissions snapshot

Transport 22.27%

Waste 3.35%

Gas 17.93%

Residential 7.39%

Commercial 2.26%

Industrial 8.28%

Electricity 56.26%

Residential 15.03%

Commercial 9.46%

Industrial 31.77%

Total

municipal

emissions

t CO2e

Source: snapshotclimate.com.au

Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025 15

Plan

Development

and Pledge

In June 2019, Council, in response to community

advocacy, declared a climate emergency and committed

to develop a climate emergency plan.

Council, in developing this Plan, has undertaken

engagement across community life stages and has

sought general public comment.

Council will submit this Plan to the Victorian Government

as a pledge in accordance with the provisions of the

.

The pledge must include a description of the actions to

be undertaken by Council over the next five years that

are reasonably expected to contribute to the reduction

of greenhouse gas emissions caused or otherwise

influenced by Council.

It must also include a ‘reasonable estimate’ of the total

level of GHG reductions expected to result from the

implementation of those actions.

In preparing the pledge Council must consider the policy

objectives, and the guiding principles set out in the

and provide a copy

of the pledge to the responsible Minister as soon as

practicable after its preparation.

Key Advocacy

Goals

Australia has lost valuable time in starting the

‘decarbonisation’ task in earnest.

A national climate policy such as a carbon price with a more

ambitious renewable energy policy would have enabled

broad and deep progress - but this has not occurred.

In lieu of Australian Government leadership, the heavy

lifting is now with state and territory governments, local

government, businesses, community groups, industries,

individuals, and households. Cities, such as Brimbank,

have been climate leaders and will continue that

position with this Plan.

Council wants to create a Plan for our community that is

easy to understand. We don’t want everyone to become

experts in emission accounting…we want a safe climate

for all.

Three policy advocacy goals, targeting the Victorian

Government, complement each other and are our

advocacy goals to 2025:

•

Victoria to declare a climate emergency

immediately

•

Victorian Renewable Energy Target of 100% for

2030

•

Victoria to implement a price on carbon pollution,

preferably the Australian Carbon Dividend Plan,

as soon as possible but not later than 2022

Implementation in Victoria of a meaningful and popular

price on carbon pollution (see auscarbondividend.com),

coupled with a 100% renewable energy target, would

significantly reduce emissions whilst kick starting the

industrial revolution required. The declaration of a climate

emergency would send a clear signal to the community

about the scale and speed of change required.

Declare a climate

emergency

Target 100%

renewable energy

Put a price on

emissions

16 Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025

Themes for

Action

In Brimbank, equity, energy, infrastructure, the

natural environment, and the material economy are

the core areas that will be most affected by climate

change, and by the responsive transition to the new

economy.

Accordingly, five themes for action orientate

transformation.

The five themes for action have conceptual appeal

and allow creative engagement with the process

of re-inventing our city through co-creation. They

provide a mulit-dimensional and systemic framework

for actioning the position statement.

People Power is about following the optimistic

impulse for positive change together, leaving no

one behind

100% Renewable is about using clean

renewable energy for all our needs, including to

heat and light buildings, transport people and

goods, and to undertake industrial processes

The Resilient Rebuild is about smarter, more

thermally comfortable and sustainable buildings,

and making safe connections for low emission

transport, such as public transport, walking and

cycling, and electric bikes and vehicles

Green and Cool is about embracing nature as an

ally, caring for biodiversity as our privilege and

responsibility, and being aware that what we eat

has a huge impact on us and on the planet

The Circular Economy is about recognising

that the goods and services we use have a big

environmental impact, and so we need to choose

wisely, design out waste and pollution, keep

products and materials in use, and regenerate

natural systems

Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025 17

People Power:

Growing our

Voice

To fix climate change at the pace and scale required,

‘people power’ must take new meaning and importance.

Individual action is critical across the board. We have a

shared interest and responsibility.

Council is committed to sharing robust scientific advice

on climate change and to enabling the community to

mobilise to respond to the climate emergency.

Strong policies to address climate change are needed

at every level of government. However, rather than

pushing for more politics, we need to de-politicise

climate change and advocate solutions that are accepted

by and benefit the vast majority of citizens.

Council will use its leadership and resources to empower

all residents, particularly those most impacted by the

climate emergency, including our young people and

those most vulnerable, to lead and fully participate in

the climate emergency response.

To this end, Council will establish a citizens’ assembly

on the climate emergency. The work of this group will

be based around ‘environmental equity’ - a concept

that considers the unity of environmental, social, and

economic factors of climate change - and how this must

inform our co-creation of a zero net emissions, resilient

city.

Council will partner with other councils, the Western

Alliance for Greenhouse Action and others including the

community and emergency services sectors, to amplify

community voice and to undertake collective advocacy

and action.

Importantly, the transition task requires a profound

reorientation of our relationship to our local environment

and the earth. A transformation of consciousness from

seeing the world as an object to exploit, to knowing and

living with mindfulness of our profound interconnection

with all things. In this task of connecting to and caring

for Country, our Traditional Owners will be our guide.

Community engagement strategies to build cultural

capital will consider the different cultural, language and

linguistic, and learning style needs of Brimbank’s diverse

community.

• Equity and advocacy: People power matters

• Broad community mobilisation

• Accept the science

• Learn and teach

• Be inclusive

• Brimbank Climate Emergency Citizen Assembly

established and informing action

• Community strength and effort through the

collective action of individuals

• Government support

• Private and philanthropic input

• What evidence is there that the Brimbank community

is more active in organising to respond to the climate

emergency locally and more broadly, and that people

are able to access quality education and other means

to overcome barriers to sustainable living?

• Make changes in your control

• Advocate for a safe climate

• Get involved in local resilience

• Assist the less fortunate

• Connect with others

18 Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025

100% Renewable:

Growing our

Energy

We need to stop using the dirty, such as coal and gas,

and rapidly ramp up the clean, such as solar and wind.

For our municipality to go 100% renewable (and

electric) for 100% of people we will need to make many

changes. These include switching to active and electric

transport, and efficient electric systems for hot water

and cooking, and for building heating.

Council’s priority will be to advocate for renewable

energy solutions that deliver immediate and long-term

cost savings for our community.

Reducing emissions can be done most efficiently

through a high-level pollution pricing solution. The

Australian Carbon Dividend Plan is a comprehensive ‘fee

and dividend’ market-based approach to making energy

in Australia more affordable and reliable, whilst ensuring

that the social cost of energy use is considered. Council

will advocate for this, or an equally community first

progressive policy to be implemented.

Council will also advocate for a Victorian Renewable

Energy Target of 100% for 2030, following the lead of

South Australia, Tasmania (200% by 2040) and the

ACT. If all Victoria achieves by 2030 is decarbonisation

of its electricity sector, it will likely achieve a circa 60%

reduction on its 2005 emissions.

Finally, we must also advocate for no new fossil fuel

energy projects anywhere in Australia as per the request

of our Pacific Island neighbours, and for the well

planned ‘just transition’ of employees in the fossil fuel

sector to new opportunities.

Council, in its own operations, will investigate

divestment options and not building new fossil fuel

burning infrastructure.

The increased uptake of renewable electricity and

transition to zero net emissions - by 2030 for Council

operations and 2040 for the municipality - will create

jobs and opportunities.

Council will move to 100% renewable electricity in its

own operations in 2021.

• Climate and energy: 100% renewable energy is

critical and achievable

• 100% renewable energy for 100% of people

• Use clean green energy

• Act on climate

• We have the technology

• Legislated Victoria Renewable Energy Target of

100% for 2030

• Zero-net emissions for Council operations by 2030

• Zero-net emissions for the municipality by 2040;

70% by 2030

• Policy and planning

• Investment

• What evidence is there that Brimbank is moving

towards 100% renewable energy by 2030 and is

decarbonising to zero net emissions by 2040?

• Find out where your energy comes from and switch

to 100% GreenPower

• Save energy wherever you can, and target efficiency

in new appliances

• Install solar PV (and batteries) if you can

• Use electricity for everything - create an ‘all electric’

home

• Switch to sustainable transport as soon as possible

e.g. an electric bike or car

Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025 19

Resilient Rebuild:

Growing our

Strength

As extreme weather events increase in severity and

regularity, we need to strengthen our infrastructure to

cope with the anticipated impacts.

We need a stronger, smarter, built environment. This

includes our homes, workplaces, and social spaces - and

the public, active and other transport connections in

between.

Taking action involves confronting the barriers

embedded in the built environment - physically in terms

of building and urban form, and technologically for

example in terms of energy and transport systems.

New buildings need to be built to higher environmental

standards, and existing buildings need to be retrofitted

en masse, while taking account of the need to preserve

important heritage buildings and precincts.

We must aim towards energy positive buildings that

produce more energy than they consume, and that

can easily be taken apart at their end of life so that the

materials can be reused.

Housing needs to be built for the future climate context,

including for the most vulnerable. At risk groups

include the very young and old, the unwell, those with

limited financial means, different physical abilities and

limited access to transport, culturally and linguistically

diverse community members, and the socially isolated.

Homelessness needs to become a thing of the past.

Smart-cities, the internet-of-things, autonomous

vehicles, the sharing economy, and 3D printing are

things we need to consider as part of the resilient

rebuild.

We also need to consider how to meet basic needs,

including in times of crisis. We need to ensure that all

people have access to the necessities - food, water,

sanitation, energy, shelter, and physical and mental

health services - and how they will be provided.

Transport must also change rapidly, with the goal that

for most people most of what they need to do can be

achieved in less than twenty minutes travel.

Council will expand its existing commitment to

facilitating safe walking and bicycle travel, as

preferential forms of transportation, noting that there is

considerable community support for this investment.

Major projects, such as the Sunshine Super Hub station

redevelopment will be the testing ground for the

Resilient Rebuild.

• Cities and mobility: Infrastructure must be stronger,

smarter, and sustainable

• Build the resilience of infrastructure and its

contribution to net zero

• 20 minute city: enabling people to get most of what

they need locally

• Intelligent urban design that integrates our heritage

• Affordable ‘climate resilient’ housing

• Climate neutral transport choices

• Resilient housing, industry and business

• Construction standards that are ‘climate compatible’

• What evidence is there that the resilient rebuild

is occurring in Brimbank via sustainability

improvements to the built environment, and that

people are getting around more easily and often on

foot, by bike, or by public transport?

• Learn about, and take part in, local planning and

project decisions

• Prepare for emergencies

• Get to know your neighbours and welcome new

people

• Demand safe and good quality public transport and

walking and cycling paths

• Build or rent resilient, or retrofit

20 Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025

Green and Cool:

Growing our

Wellness

Climate change is placing significant stress on native

animals and plants. At the same time, extreme weather

events such as heatwaves are affecting human health.

We need to improve significantly the wellness of our

natural world, and ourselves. We need to care for Country.

We need more natural environment and green areas, and

for these to be better connected with vegetated corridors.

We need a fair, just and regenerative food system that

includes urban agriculture.

Plants are the answer. Plants and the biodiversity they

support and which supports them are fundamental

to our existence. They provide our food either directly

or indirectly, many building materials, and fibres and

medicines. They produce oxygen, tie up carbon, cool our

climate, are habitat for animals… the list can go on.

Protecting and restoring nature, and funding natural climate

solutions will aid biodiversity during this extinction crisis.

Valuable green infrastructure includes street trees, nature

strips, parks, waterways, water catchments, and remnant

and protected natural areas. Urban forestry and ecology

will come to the fore as we green and cool our municipality.

As food waste and animal agriculture are two of the big

contributors to climate change, and poor diet is the number

one health risk, a healthy low waste plant-rich diet is a key

pathway to respond simultaneously to climate change and

to improve our wellness.

The benefits of a low waste, plant-rich diet can

fundamentally shift our impact on animal welfare,

biodiversity and deforestation, and water security, as well

as workers’ rights and local food security.

Finally, we must ‘drawdown’ emissions by improving land

management, including by the protection of ecosystems

on public land. These forests, grasslands and wetlands

are home to threatened biodiversity and deliver multiple

benefits. Importantly, they drawdown carbon from the

atmosphere to build our ecosystem carbon stocks.

The positive impacts of greening and cooling extend from

the biophysical - reducing the impacts of heatwaves and

improving air quality - to the social, psychological and

emotional benefits of liveability.

Within Brimbank, we aim to realise a city full of native

plants and animals, with protected grasslands, urban

forests, urban food production, healthy waterways, and

green and connected open spaces and oases.

Council has been leading the transformation to a greener city

since the release of Greening the West (GTW) in 2013, which

established a partnership approach to greening the western

suburbs. GTW is a collaboration amongst Melbourne’s

western councils and other major public landowners with the

aim to mitigate the impacts of heatwaves through increasing

tree canopy cover and the utilisation of urban storm water.

This collaboration is the first of its kind in Australia focusing

on delivering green infrastructure projects. GTW has

generated around $40 million worth of green infrastructure

projects and has won six industry awards.

• Green and cool: Plants can help heal the planet

• Embrace and promote plant-based solutions

• Brimbank Oases: sustainable precincts based around

green and cool open space

• Love and respect nature

• No local species extinctions

• Eat plants

• Plant plants

• Increase the extent and condition of natural habitat

across the municipality

• Plant-rich, low-waste eating

• Collaborative nature conservation

• Urban forestry/ecology and Greening the West

• What evidence is there the municipality is getting greener

and cooler, that habitat for threatened flora and fauna is

protected and connected, and that people are adopting a

climate and health friendly relationship with food?

• Join a Brimbank ‘Friends of group’ and protect/restore

natural areas

• Enjoy more fruits & vegetables – especially from organic

farms

• Don’t waste food!

• Speak up for and fund the protection of threatened

ecosystems

• Put the nature back into your nature strip

Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025 21

Circular Economy:

Growing our

Prosperity

A circular economy looks beyond the current take-make

waste extractive industrial model. It aims to redefine

growth, focusing on positive society-wide benefits. It

involves gradually decoupling economic activity from the

consumption of finite resources, and designing waste

out of the system.

While approaches like renewable energy are critical to

the climate response, it is sometimes less clear that the

materials we buy and sell have a climate cost of their

own. For example, the climate impact of the fashion

industry is bigger than that of the airline industry.

To have a chance to reach the Paris Agreement targets

we need to address our use of materials. The circular

economy sits alongside ‘de-growth’ as a new paradigm

for exploring a post-consumerist future. This is a

future where resource extraction and economic growth

decelerate in a planned manner, giving way to new

social, political, and economic systems that are more

harmonious with nature and the earth’s finite resources.

Shrinking material demand is a prerequisite for a circular

economy that functions within the Earth’s limits.

Concurrently, wealthy countries such as Australia will

need to stop outsourcing a significant amount of our

pollution to developing countries.

In Brimbank, we can consider the new economic

opportunities on offer, for example, by working with

local partners to support access to circular economy

training and employment. Brimbank and Melbourne’s

west are well placed to support emerging circular

economy specific industry and business.

Brimbank has long suffered from environmental equity

issues such the stockpiling and landfilling of waste. The

circular economy provides us with the opportunity to be

part of a positive paradigm change.

Going forward Council will explore ways for its

procurement investments to contribute to the circular

economy, and to connected issues such as social

procurement. Council will also actively support and

deliver waste and circular economy education.

• Materials and management: Use less, choose wisely,

quality pays for itself

• Design out waste and pollution

• Keep products and materials in use

• Regenerate natural systems

• Rethink/Think circular

• Share

• Towards zero waste to landfill

• Integrated waste management

• Product stewardship

• Local reuse solutions

• What evidence is there that the Brimbank economy

is reducing the amount of waste to landfill, and

maximising the reuse and recycling of other

products?

• Rethink, reuse, repair, recycle, share, borrow and

donate

• Buy ethically

• Support local businesses

• Collect friends and experiences, not just things

• Use less materials

22 Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025

Implementation,

Monitoring and

Reporting

Environmental equity refers to the myriad of

environmental issues currently being experienced by

local communities across Victoria. It covers the issues

of climate change, legacy contamination, and the

protection of biodiversity.

The increasing proliferation of these environmental

issues affecting Brimbank and other local government

areas provides the opportunity for councils to begin

working together, and with the Victorian Government

and others to address them in a collaborative and

strategic manner.

The climate emergency provides a policy umbrella.

Council’s implementation approach for the climate

emergency will include:

Lens:

the climate emergency will be a lens for all

Council service provision

Embed:

to embed the new lens across Council

structural and cultural change will be undertaken

Building and delivering different things:

implementation will lead to different priorities

The actions listed in this Plan seek to reflect the scale

and speed of the task ahead.

Monitoring, evaluating and reporting on Council and

community progress towards achieving the position

statement within this Plan is critical. In addition to

annual reporting to Council on progress, reporting

frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative will

be investigated to identify a preferred, whole-of-Council

sustainability reporting approach.

Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025 23

Action Plan

The list of actions below is in addition to those actions endorsed through Council’s existing strategies such as the

Greenhouse Reduction Strategy, Environmentally Sustainable Design Policy, Climate Change Adaptation Framework,

Biodiversity Strategy, Habitat Connectivity Plan, Walking and Cycling Strategy and Urban Forest Strategy.

Key

(I) Immediate, Year 1

(S) Short, Years 2-5 years

(O) Ongoing

* Actions that will be referred for budgetary consideration.

Control

1

Establish a representative Brimbank Climate Emergency Citizens Assembly.

I

2

Establish a dedicated Brimbank Community Grants Program climate emergency stream.*

S

3

Actively and directly, involve youth in climate leadership roles, projects and training through existing youth

programs and other opportunities.

O

4

Incorporate climate emergency leadership into the Brimbank Community Leadership Program.

S

5

Work with Brimbank schools and service providers through the Brimbank Teachers Environmental Network

to support climate change education in classrooms and in events for children and youth.

O

6

Work with local emergency services and agencies to update Brimbank's emergency response preparedness

to include the specific climate change risks and responses for heatwaves, fires, extreme rainfall weather,

and other emergency events that will escalate during the climate emergency.

I

7

Collaborate with other councils and related networks and alliances, including the Western Greenhouse

Alliance and the Climate Emergency Australia Network, to develop and run targeted and visible climate

emergency advocacy campaigns that inspire our community and deliver results.

S

8

Embed climate related financial disclosure in Council reporting processes, relating to governance, strategy

and risk management. (Using Financial Stability Board's Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures

framework)

S

Partner

9

Foster an ethic of caring for Country (land, water, air and all living beings) as the necessary ethical

foundation for the future, including through ongoing consultation and collaboration with Traditional

Owners, and through the development and inclusion of a formal statement to be included in Council

documents, meetings and ceremonies.

I

10

In partnership with Brimbank climate groups, develop resident climate emergency response templates and

engagement and education programs to foster the widespread adoption of sustainable living behaviours

and technologies.

S

11

Develop and deliver a decarbonisation program targeting large industrial emitters.*

S

12

Share climate emergency knowledge and information with local business associations as they work to

improve business sustainability outcomes and profitability.

S

24 Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025

Advocacy

13

Advocate to the Victorian and Australian governments, other local governments including those in

Melbourne's west, to declare a climate emergency and to act in accordance with climate science.

I

14

Build on the Brimbank Social Justice Charter and 2020 Transforming Brimbank Environmental Equity

Agenda to partner with community sector organisations to understand and respond to the needs of

vulnerable groups, and advocate for a ‘just transition’ for local people affected by the transition to the new

economy.

S

15

Advocate for the Victorian Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability to report on climate action goals

as part of the Victorian State of the Environment Report 2023, noting the report structure will be based

around the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

S

Control

16

Develop a Brimbank municipal emissions pathway to ‘decarbonise’ to zero net emissions in accordance

with a 1.5 degree trajectory.* Target zero net emissions by 2030 for Council (certified carbon neutral)

operations, and 2040 for the municipality.

I

17

Review Council programs including the capital works program to ensure emission reduction and adaptation

opportunities are maximised.*

I

18

Enter a municipal power purchase agreement to procure 100% clean renewable electricity for all of

Council’s electricity and street lighting needs by 2021.*

I

19

Assess the feasibility of electric alternatives to building new, or upgrading old, gas infrastructure in Council

buildings.

O

20

Commission a report on a pathway for Council divestment from financial interests related to fossil fuels.* S

Partner

21

Seek opportunities to participate in innovative and emerging renewable energy projects such as micro

grids, virtual power plants, and environmental upgrade finance to residential properties.

O

22

Develop a 100% Renewable Brimbank campaign that promotes and, where possible, incentivises business

and community uptake of grid renewable and distributed electricity resources (e.g. rooftop solar, batteries).

S

23

Actively seek, foster, and support opportunities for community renewable energy projects such as

‘solar gardens’. Consider undertaking these projects on Council owned sites such as former landfills, and

collaborate with the Victorian Government and others actions to promote community energy.

S

24

Investigate mechanisms to support community uptake of electric vehicles:

Measures may include advocating for electric vehicle charging infrastructure within or adjacent to new

public and private developments; collaborating with car share/subscription/leasing/sales businesses to

accelerate the transition to electric vehicles within Brimbank; and investigating options for Council to

support the uptake of electric vehicles in Brimbank, including charging infrastructure.*

S

Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025 25

Advocacy

25

Advocate to the Victorian Government for:

• Affordable grid renewable energy, through price regulation such as the Victorian Default Offer.

• Affordable solar PV for renters living on low incomes e.g. by having no tenant co-payment under the

Victorian Solar Homes program.

• Philanthropic ‘solar giving’ to be enabled, whereby excess residential and business rooftop energy can

be donated to those in need.

• Enable gas free, climate friendly buildings and precincts through the Victorian planning system.

• Introduce a statewide planning provision for environmentally sustainable designed ‘all electric homes’.

S

26

Advocate to the Australian Government to support the phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles leading to the

implementation of a ban on sales from 2030 or earlier:

• Measures may include stringent minimum vehicle emissions standards for new vehicles. Provide tax

incentives for lowest emissions vehicles and remove tax incentives that encourage unnecessary driving

and vehicle purchase. Develop an electric and autonomous vehicle strategy to embed positive social

and environmental outcomes.

S

27

Advocate to the Victorian Government to:

• Implement the Australian Carbon Dividend Plan or other carbon price approach through Victorian

legislation as soon as possible and no later than the end of 2022.

I

28

Advocate to the Victorian Government to:

• Implement a Victorian 100% Renewable Energy Target for 2030 through Victorian legislation and

include a ‘community energy project’ percentage component.

I

29

Advocate to the Australian Government to align policies and targets to climate science:

• Increase Australia’s targets under the Paris Climate Agreement to align with a 1.5 degree trajectory and

introduce climate change legislation inclusive of a zero net emissions target.

O

30

Advocate for no new fossil fuel projects in Victoria, and the ‘just transition’ of the fossil fuel based energy

industry and/or other industry sectors such as forestry that will change as a result of addressing the

ecological and climate emergency.

O

31

Advocate to the Victorian Government for:

• Improved service levels for public transport especially in areas where social disadvantage is prevalent.

• Metropolitan trains and buses to be 100% renewable energy powered as soon as possible (as per the

tram network) and to more accepting of bikes.

• New regional trains to be hybrid powered so that they run on the electric network when in the city to

reduce diesel pollution impacts on Brimbank residents.

S

26 Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025

Control

32

Participate in place-based research to understand the health risks and likely impacts of climate change on

services and communities e.g. heat mapping.*

S

33

Through the better streets program, investigate opportunities to redesign key streets to be walking and

cycling friendly corridors that include high levels of shade trees, vegetation and water sensitive design

infrastructure such as raingardens.

S

34

Undertake strategic work to support the potential for reduced parking rates in activity centres that are well

served by public transport and local services with a focus on the Sunshine and St Albans Town Centres.

S

35

Renew the sustainable transport plan for Council staff and trial electric bikes.

I

36

Develop an urban design manual that specifies climate positive and sustainable products for open space

and streetscape upgrades.

S

37

Develop a hold point in the design process of urban design projects to ensure sustainability targets are

met.

S

38

Utilise Council’s ESD principles to assess the design and specification of urban design projects prior to

tendering.

I

Advocate

39

Advocate that State and Federal infrastructure projects in Brimbank, such as the Sunshine Super Hub,

maximise sustainability inclusions (e.g. as per Council endorsed urban design principles and developing

biodiversity sensitive urban design principles), such as maximising vegetation, use of recycled materials

and onsite renewable energy.

I

40

Advocate to the Australian Government for energy performance improvements to the National

Construction Code, above the 6-star requirement, to enable the rapid transition to zero net emission and

energy-positive buildings.

I

41

Advocate to the Victorian Government for:

• Funding to make all Brimbank homes ‘healthy homes’ via energy efficiency retrofits, and for houses to

be given an efficiency rating when sold or leased.

• Ongoing ambitious improvements to the Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) planning standards

in new homes and commercial and industrial developments to move towards zero carbon buildings and

precincts.

I

42

Advocate to the Australian Government to increase funding for health and emergency services, habitat

restoration and wildlife care, and infrastructure to respond to heatwaves, droughts, bushfires and floods.

O

43

Advocate to the Victorian Government to develop an Integrated Transport Strategy as required by the

, to transition the way we move around the State to be zero emissions and

predominantly based on public transport.

I

Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025 27

Control

44

Undertake urban ecology projects including through street tree planting, connecting habitat and putting

the nature back into nature strips.

S

45

Provide guidance information for large tree management on private property.

S

46

Increase the use of local and environmentally friendly caterers for Council meetings and civic events,

avoiding packaging waste and prioritising seasonal and plant-rich cuisine.

S

47

Undertake a research project with the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities and other

partner agencies to analyse how to implement the Brimbank Oasis concept.

I

Partner

48

Promote the environmental and health benefits of a low-waste plant-rich diet, including through support

for community food growing and sharing initiatives such as community gardens, farmers markets and

school food growing and cooking programs.

O

49

Undertake food waste reduction campaigns and promote the diversion of food and garden waste away

from landfill.

O

50

Raise awareness with the local community about cooling using plants on private property.

S

51

Partner with the health and community sector to champion actions to address the health impacts of

climate change such as heatwaves, and promote co-benefits such as reduced energy bills.

S

Advocate

52

Advocate for the Victorian Government to:

• Immediately end native forest logging in Melbourne’s drinking water supply catchments.

• Develop a plan to increase Victorian ecosystem carbon stocks to a good status as measured in the

Victorian State of the Environment Report.

I

53

Advocate for the Victorian Government to: Request that the Victorian Environment Assessment Council

undertake an investigation into the comprehensiveness, adequacy and representative of the protected

area system for the Victorian Volcanic Plains including Brimbank.

I

54

Advocate to relevant authorities for increased resourcing and funding for the protection and or

maintenance of Crown land containing significant biodiversity values or forming part of an identified

habitat corridor within Brimbank.

O

55

Develop a targeted habitat gardening program to increase the overall quantity of indigenous vegetation

and habitat features on private land.

S

28 Brimbank Climate Emergency Plan 2020-2025

Control

56

Review Council’s procurement systems and processes to ensure they are consistent with best practice

sustainable and ethical, circular and social procurement.

S

57

Set percentage-based targets for Council purchasing of recycled and recycled content products and

accelerate changes to procurement guidelines.

S

58

Ensure Council events, festivals and offices are ‘waste wise’ and ensure plant-based food selections are

available.

S

59

Develop a community education campaign about the move to the circular economy including individual’s

role e.g. using the correct kerbside bin.

I

60

Continue to support home composting and other measures that reduce waste to landfill and pollution and

litter.

O

61

Develop an options paper to collaborate with local business to stimulate circular economy solutions to

organic waste streams including food, cardboard and cooking oil.

I

Partner

62

Collaborate with the higher education sector, research organisations and industries, to investigate ways of

transforming reclaimed waste resources to engineered materials. For example, pilot using recycled plastic

in the construction of bike paths as a replacement for steel reinforcement.

I

63

Promote the establishment of and participation in local sharing economy and reuse groups such as ‘repair

cafes’ and ‘tool libraries’, and peer to peer sharing.

S

64

Actively promote food waste avoidance and re-use businesses.

S

Advocacy

65

Advocate to the Australian Government for mandatory product stewardship requirements for all toxic

and other relevant products to lower their lifecycle impacts, and begin the push for a lifecycle plan for all

products and packaging.

I

9249 4000

info@brimbank.vic.gov.au

PO Box 70, Sunshine, VIC 3020

• TTY dial

133 677

• Speak & Listen

1300 555 727

•

www.relayservice.gov.au

, then enter

03 9249 4000

www.facebook.com/brimbankcouncil

www.twitter.com/brimbankcouncil

www.youtube.com/brimbankcitycouncil

9249 4000

info@brimbank.vic.gov.au

PO Box 70, Sunshine, VIC 3020

• TTY dial

133 677

• Speak & Listen

1300 555 727

•

www.relayservice.gov.au

, then enter

03 9249 4000

www.facebook.com/brimbankcouncil

www.twitter.com/brimbankcouncil

www.youtube.com/brimbankcitycouncil

132 - 0420