SECCCA Summer Update 2021
From the CEO...
As we close out 2021 and reflect on the past 12 months, the SECCCA team, SECCCA management committee, our Councillor Advisory Group and all our stakeholders can be extremely proud of what has been achieved, especially in the midst of the continuing COVID 19 pandemic.
Also a tumultuous year for climate action, the COP 26 Glasgow Climate Pact, recognised that global emissions must fall 45 per cent by 2030 to limit warming to 1.5°C. The Pact requires countries to strengthen their 2030 climate targets in 2022; current pledges still have the world on track for over 2°C of warming. And, for the first time in 26 years of COP summits, moving beyond coal power and the phasing out fossil fuel subsidies has been specifically called for. There are a range of other key outcomes from the conference that will impact the Australian economy. See this excellent synopsis from Maddocks for more detail.
While Victoria has a comparatively progressive approach to climate change, one key piece of legislation, the Planning and Environment Act, falls short. Recognizing the need to address this, SECCCA, along with the Victorian Greenhouse Alliances and the Council for a Sustainable Built Environment engaged respected planning firm Hansen Partnership to investigate what changes need to be made to ensure the Act adequately addresses climate change. This key report is now available for councils and other stakeholders to review. The report will inform SECCCA’s advocacy in the lead up to the Victorian State Election.
SECCCA has also made a submission to the DELWP Market Facilitation Platform Consultation Paper. The Victorian Government aims to increase the uptake of renewable energy by commercial and industrial consumers. SECCCA’s submission supports additional resources being made available to help business transition to renewable energy, the most cost effective energy source available.
We are looking forward to 2022 with great enthusiasm. Our Resilient Communities Project, supported by the Minderoo Foundation and commencing in 2022, enables us to directly support our members’ communities to strengthen their resilience to climate change. And we have exciting plans to engage more deliberatively in the upcoming elections in order to influence all political parties to increase their climate change ambition.
On behalf of the SECCCA team, I wish all our SECCCA stakeholders a wonderful and safe Christmas and well-deserved holiday period, and all the very best for the new year.
Annual Report
SECCCA’s 2021 Annual Report is now available and provides a snapshot of the organisation’s significant achievements throughout the past year.
The Annual General Meeting was held in early November. City of Kingston’s Emily Boucher has been appointed President for another year, continuing her excellent and steadfast leadership. We welcome Simon Woodland from Bass Coast Shire Council as the SECCCA Vice President. Bayside City Council's Julian Donlen and City of Greater Dandenong's Jessica Harrison will take the roles of Treasurer and Secretary respectively for 2022. Acknowledgement and thanks to all the SECCCA management committee, without whom the organisation could not undertake the work that it does.
Our Councillor Advisory Group (CAG) has grown from strength to strength. We welcome new members Noelene Duff PSM from City of Casey and City of Frankston's Mayor Cr Nathan Conroy. We are delighted to note that Councillor Michael Whelan, Mayor, Bass Coast Shire Council will be chairing the CAG in 2022.
Minderoo Foundation Partnership
SECCCA is delighted to announce a project partnership with the Minderoo Foundation. Our partnership secures almost one million dollars to enhance the resilience of communities in the SECCCA region to climate change.
The Resilient Communities Project - Enhancing Community Resilience to Climate Change will help prepare communities for current and future changes to the climate. Community preparedness for climate events will be improved through practical actions, tools, and resources developed through a co-design process with the community. Participants will be empowered with information and access to services enabling them to make individual decisions to prepare for climate change.
Commencing in 2022, the project will develop scalable and replicable approaches and tools that will build community resilience to climate change across Australia and enable SECCCA to leverage the outputs of the Asset Vulnerability Assessment Project.
Further information on the project can be found here.
Asset Vulnerability Assessment project
On December 8, SECCCA launched the Climate Vulnerability Guide – A toolkit for councils to assess the vulnerability of assets to climate change.
This is a comprehensive resource that shows the key steps, challenges, resources and assets involved in assessing climate vulnerability. Huge thanks and congratulations to all those involved in the project Dan Pleiter, Renae Walton, Helen Scott, Aruna Dias, Spatial Vision, Scientell, Marsden Jacob Associates and Science Into Action.
The guide is available to download here from SECCCA’s Asset Vulnerability Project page >> https://bit.ly/3fjmud5
Powering zero emission vehicles across south east Melbourne
Building on the Electric Vehicle Situational Analysis findings, five SECCCA councils have recently commenced the development of an electric vehicle charging roadmap for the SECCCA region.
The Roadmap will identify the optimal locations for public charging and covering the key issues that must be considered for the development of an implementation plan for each LGA and a regional network. A discussion paper and policy template will also be developed, considering relevant planning and statutory requirement, ownership requirements and permits and approvals for leasing on public and private land.
Finally, a future scan will involve consideration of emerging market trends and the implications of these trends for SECCCA members and the Roadmap. SECCCA has engaged the Institute of Sensible Transport to develop the roadmap and the project will be completed in March 2022.
For further information please contact Dan Pleiter, SECCCA Project Coordinator: dpleiter@seccca.org.au