October 10, 2024

Dandenong Ranges calls for the Victorian Government to fund Community-Led Climate Adaptation

The Victorian government is running an Inquiry into Climate Resilience, which is looking into the preparedness of communities facing climate disasters across the state. The submissions stage of the Resilience Inquiry process is closed, and the committee undertaking the Inquiry is now conducting hearings.

The third of these hearings was in Emerald at the Lakeside Centre on 10 October 2024. At the event, local councils, emergency support groups and businesses, Emerald Community House Centre of Resilience, and others spoke to the Legislative Council Environment and Planning Committee about local climate resilience. Concerned members of the Dandenong Ranges, Greater Dandenong, and wider South East Melbourne community went along to hear them speak. 

Before going into the hearing, community members gathered outside to show support for government funding of community-led climate adaptation. They held up a banner with the words ‘Fund Community Climate Resilience’ on it.

“To prepare for locked-in climate impacts, we need adequate and ongoing funding for community-led adaptation work. This funding will enable communities to fulfil their plans to build resilient communities in a changing climate and keep those most at risk safe,” Vicky Ellmore, Act on Climate Community Organiser, said.

Friends of the Earth Melbourne’s Act on Climate collective has been ensuring community members' voices are heard through this Inquiry, both their concerns and the solutions they want to see enacted. The collective is calling for the committee to recommend a Victorian Community Climate Adaptation Fund (VCCAF). The fund would distribute money annually to community groups that apply to undertake localised adaptation initiatives.

Over three quarters (83.75%) of submissions to the Inquiry called for increased funding in climate adaptation, with half (49.58%) calling for ongoing funding and over a third (39.58%) calling for Act on Climate’s VCCAF specifically.

In their submissions to the Inquiry into Climate Resilience, people from the Dandenong Ranges shared their concerns around the bushfires and storm events the area has experienced. In addition, locals are concerned about the isolation of people in the Dandenong Ranges when power supply and communication is disrupted and roads close. Quotes from local submissions include:

“[The second severe storm event in 2024] following so soon after the 2021 created alarm and an increased sense of urgency. It challenged the Emerald community to think and act differently. The ferocity of the event, the destruction and failure of multiple infrastructure services, the widespread impact on the functioning of the community and the apparent unpreparedness of so many people, businesses, and relevant authorities and agencies to cope, raised the inadequacy of the current arrangements.

 “The ongoing threat of bushfire and the overall vulnerability of communities in the Dandenong Ranges to power and internet outages, the closure of roads, the potential isolation of towns and individual households and the high level 5 of reliance on motor vehicles were brought dramatically to light. No longer was it an option to sit back as a community and wait for action.”

“With Community Climate Adaptation Funding our local community would be empowered to identify dangers and risks present in a changing climate and better respond to preparation needs before disasters strike.”

In their submissions the actions and solutions Dandenong Ranges locals are calling for include:

• information and education on what resources are available in an emergency and how they will be deployed, as well as on resilience plans, strategies, and communication plans for before, during and after climate impacts and disasters,
• local community resilience plans,
• undergrounding of power lines and local energy and telecommunications security
• hazard tree inspections and improved vegetation management, and
• funding for local adaptation initiatives, such as community emergency hubs in Hills townships, emergency information kits for distribution to the community, and energy backup systems.

In their submissions the actions and solutions Greater Dandenong locals are calling for include:

• the preservation and expansion of green spaces for urban cooling,
• strong minimum standards for rental housing and improving energy ratings for new homes to ensure they are thermally and environmentally safe,
• updated flood mapping and no new developments in areas impacted by flooding,
• better management of the water load on the drainage systems,
• neighbourhood batteries,
• enhanced public transport with localised routes and walkable suburbs,
• localisation rather than centralisation in food, jobs, services, and education,
• address the current lack of culturally diverse voices in the climate adaptation and resilience discussion, and
• a significant general increase of funding from the Victorian Government to local councils, community service organisations, emergency service providers and community groups.

“Communities know what climate adaptation plans and projects are most needed and relevant for them, but they are not getting the support they urgently need to implement them. They are looking to the state government for leadership and assistance to adapt to climate impacts,” said Ms Ellmore.

“While the government has undertaken adaptation planning work, this has not been sufficiently acted on and has not been backed up with ongoing funding to prepare communities for the climate impacts forecast to affect Victoria. Every step we take to help communities adapt to now unavoidable climate impacts secures a safer future and builds resilience, protecting people and Country.”

IMAGE: Community photo outside the Emerald Resilience Inquiry hearing with Fund Community Climate Resilience banner

CONTACT:

Vicky Ellmore

Community Organiser, Act on Climate collective, Friends of the Earth Melbourne

0424 687 809

Join the call for A Community Climate Adaptation Fund for Victoria by adding your name to our petition 

Seismic blasting multinational TGS announced this morning that they have decided not to proceed with the Otway blasting plan, withdrawing from NOPSEMA assessment.

Under the proposal, TGS were to blast the Otway Basin off the west coast of Victoria with 250 decibels of noise - louder than an atomic bomb - every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day for months on end to search for new oil and gas reserves. When they first submitted their proposal to the Government Management Authority their plan was for the largest seismic blasting proposal in the world covering a footprint of 7.7 million hectares. Over two and a half years of community pressure the scope of the project was reduced to cover a shrinking area until finally today they have withdrawn their application.

Media reports today that Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has “backflipped” on a ban on cooktops are inaccurate and an unhelpful distraction from gas heaters which guzzle half of the gas used in Victoria and the pipeline system which leaks more gas than is used in cooking statewide.

September 4, 2024

Gippsland community calls for the Vic Government to fund Community-Led Climate Adaptation

The Victorian Government is running an Inquiry into Climate Resilience, which is looking into the preparedness of communities facing climate disasters across the state. The submissions stage of the Resilience Inquiry process is closed, and the committee undertaking the Inquiry is now conducting hearings.

The first of these hearings was in Traralgon at the Century Inn on 3 September 2024, while Gippsland was still recovering from intense storms and havoc-wrecking winds due to climate change. At the event, local councils, Gippsland environment groups, associate professors, farming representatives, and others spoke to the Legislative Council Environment and Planning Committee about local climate resilience. Concerned members of the Gippsland community went along to hear them speak.

Before going into the hearing, community members gathered outside to show support for government funding of community-led climate adaptation. They held up a banner with the words ‘Fund Community Climate Resilience’ on it. Many community members who wished to attend this hearing to show support for more funding of climate adaptation were unable to due to impacts from the recent storm surges and intense winds.

“To prepare for locked-in climate impacts, we need adequate and ongoing funding for community-led adaptation work. This funding will enable communities to fulfil their plans to build resilient communities in a changing climate and keep those most at risk safe,” Vicky Ellmore, Act on Climate Community Organiser, said.

Friends of the Earth Melbourne’s Act on Climate has been ensuring community members' voices are heard through this Inquiry, both their concerns and the solutions they want to see enacted. The collective is calling for the committee to recommend a Victorian Community Climate Adaptation Fund (VCCAF). The fund would distribute money annually to community groups that apply to undertake localised adaptation initiatives.

In their submissions to the Inquiry into Climate Resilience, people from Gippsland have shared their concerns around the unprecedented heatwaves, bushfires, storms, winds, drought, and flooding Gippsland has experienced. In addition, the isolation of people in Gippsland when power supply and communication is disrupted, the reluctance to engage in discussions about preparation and adaptation, and sea-level rise are concerning locals.

“Governments are far from ready to deal with the compounding consequences of new disasters occurring faster than we can recover from previous ones,” one Gippsland resident noted in their submission.

“While climate change poses grave dangers to us all, it is the youth of today who are at greatest long-term risk. In Gippsland, their young lives have already been impacted by heatwaves, bushfires and floods. Some have seen their homes destroyed. Many have witnessed local bushland and wildlife devastated by fire, and all live with fear and uncertainty as they face the future on a warming planet.” 

In their submissions the actions and solutions Gippsland locals are calling for include:

• strengthened development planning and building regulations that take account of a changing climate,
• assistance to enable people, especially those most at risk, to retrofit their homes to cope with climate extremes,
• much greater financial support to our firefighting capabilities,
• inform, update, and better engage with people about the climate challenges ahead and ensure more conversations around climate change readiness, involving local communities in disaster preparedness plans,
• investment in training of many more young people for work that will be required to transition and adapt our communities, and
• funding for local adaptation initiatives, such as warning systems, housing insulation, emergency accommodation and support via mutual aid systems, localised power grids for isolated towns, disaster-proof safe refuges, on-ground action to manage coastline erosion.

“Communities know what climate adaptation plans and projects are most needed and relevant for them, but they are not getting the support they urgently need to implement them. They are looking to the state government for leadership and assistance to adapt to climate impacts,” said Ms Ellmore.

“While the government has undertaken adaptation planning work, this has not been sufficiently acted on and has not been backed up with ongoing funding to prepare communities for the climate impacts forecast to affect Victoria. Every step we take to help communities adapt to now unavoidable climate impacts secures a safer future and builds resilience, protecting people and Country.”

Join the call for A Community Climate Adaptation Fund for Victoria by adding your name to our petition 

Friends of the Earth (FoE) - response to Victorian state budget 2024/25

As expected, this was a state budget focused strongly on cost of living pressures, with emphasis on assisting families, and continued investment in public infrastructure including training, education and health.

As such, expectations in the realm of environment and energy had been very modest, and as expected there were no major new projects announced in this budget. The energy measures outlined in the budget are generally a ‘business as usual’ continuation of existing positive policy and previous commitments. We welcome the commitment to review the Victorian Energy Upgrades program and support VicGrid’s transmission planning reforms. Progress on the development of onshore and offshore renewable energy will continue, with funding to assist in mitigating the biodiversity impacts of these projects.

MEDIA RELEASE 1 May 2024

Today Federal Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has announced a major step forward for offshore wind in Australia, granting feasibility licences for six projects in Victoria’s Gippsland region.

This includes a feasibility licence for Star of the South, a visionary offshore wind project that has been proposed for several years, capturing the imagination of people in Gippsland as the region’s coal fired power stations begin to close.

Environmental justice group Friends of the Earth welcomes the announcement, saying offshore wind will make a major contribution to action on climate change while creating thousands of jobs.

Media release. August 21, 2023

Today, the Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources, Lily D'Ambrosio, announced that the government is investing $1 billion in renewable energy projects to deliver 4.5 gigawatts of power, equivalent to the output of the Loy Yang A power station. Friends of the Earth has welcomed this announcement and appreciates the role that the State Electricity Commission (SEC) will play in transforming the energy sector.

The minister, alongside AGL power company, also confirmed the 2035 closure date for the power station and a structured transition plan for affected workers. This will help ensure certainty for the Gippsland community.  However, the plan allows for an earlier closure if Loy Yang A is no longer needed in the energy market. 

May 16, 2023

Friends of the Earth welcomes today’s news that the Andrews government has locked in its new Emissions Reduction Target of 75-80% by 2035, now set to become law.

The Andrews government committed to the target ahead of the 2022 state election, along with pledges to re-establish the State Electricity Commission and set a target of 95% renewable energy generation by 2035. 

‘Victoria’s strong new 2035 Emissions Reduction Target reflects how much the pace of climate action has accelerated in recent years, and will energise communities to keep advocating for more ambition,’ said Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Anna Langford.

‘This big step up on climate ambition is a jump of 30% from our 2030 Emissions Reduction Target of 45-50%, and indicates what is possible with smart, forward-thinking policies.’

The target has been tabled in parliament today, and is now officially part of Victoria’s Climate Change Act (2017), which charts Victoria’s course to the goal of net-zero emissions by 2045. 

Friends of the Earth says the 2035 target being tied to the re-establishment of the State Electricity Commission is hugely significant for Victoria’s Latrobe Valley community.

‘The privatisation of Victoria’s electricity system in the 1990s wreaked havoc in the Latrobe Valley, and the community has faced uncertainty about the future ever since,’ said Friends of the Earth's Gippsland Organiser, Wendy Farmer. 

‘It’s exciting to see the Victorian government setting ambitious targets backed by investment in public electricity generation, which will create thousands of good local jobs,’ said Ms Farmer.

Friends of the Earth says the next steps for Victoria are to accelerate the phaseout of the state’s reliance on polluting fossil gas, immediately transition out of native forest logging (which contributed over 3 million tonnes of carbon pollution in 2021), and plan for the emerging needs of communities which are on the front lines of the first climate impacts.

‘Collective action by communities around Victoria has secured strong policy that is delivering significant emissions cuts. The Victorian government should continue to engage with communities in forming future policies to deepen emissions cuts and adapt to locked-in impacts,’ said Friends of the Earth climate spokesperson Aleesha Hanczakowski. 

MEDIA RELEASE 27/03/2023

Friends of the Earth welcomes the Supreme Court's decision that the Delburn wind farm is valid and can go ahead. The Delburn project will be the first wind farm in the Latrobe Valley, it will also be the first wind farm built in a plantation in Australia.

Building a wind farm in a plantation site is an effective way to protect the natural environment as the plantation is already a highly modified industrial site. Hopefully the court's decision today puts the false claims about this project to rest. 

As Victoria continues to experience a boom in minerals exploration and development, it is essential that we learn from past impacts. While mining helped build the state’s economy in the 19^th century, the current boom threatens regional communities and farmland, and will use increasingly scarce surface and groundwater. All proposals must be carefully scrutinised and managed to avoid reckless and short-sighted approvals so that this and future generations of Victorians are not exposed to even more social, economic, and environmental harm.

In 2021, a range of local groups concerned about the impacts of mining started to meet to share skills, strategy and knowledge. Over time, this informal network developed into the Alliance For Responsible Mining Regulation (ARMR). ARMR calls for an overhaul of mining regulations that must result in better outcomes for the community and environment.

Now, with a state election in less than 4 weeks, ARMR has launched a blueprint for reform of the laws around mining in Victoria.