The launch of the Local Government Climate Change Adaptation Toolkit is a world first in adaptive responses to climate change.
Melbourne Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle, launched the Toolkit at the ‘Adaptation to Climate Change Forum’ organised by ICLEI Oceania and hosted by the City of Melbourne on 4 March.
“This is a very valuable resource because it goes beyond a risk management template,” the Lord Mayor said. “It is comprehensive and it is the result of actually making it work – the result of a one year pilot with five councils from across different regions in Australia.”
The Lord Mayor also spoke of the challenges of climate change and the need to act swiftly.
“We have got higher average temperatures, reduced rainfall and more frequent extreme weather events,” he said. “We’re breaking lots of records every year, and year by year they are the wrong ones. Climate change is our new reality.”
As the beginning of a new approach to Local Government adaptation planning, ICLEI Oceania CEO, Wayne Wescott, also announced the rollout of ICLEI Oceania’s new Adaptive and Resilient Communities program for Australian Local Governments. Using ICLEI’s proven milestone framework, the new Adaptive and Resilient Communities program will guide councils through risk identification and ascertaining opportunities to respond effectively to climate change.
The Local Government Climate Change Adaptation Toolkit was developed with funding from the Australian Government Department of Climate Change.
For more information about the toolkit or the new Adaptive and Resilient Communities program, contact Dr Hartmut Fuenfgeld on (03) 9660 2216.
