Climate Change Action Plan

Darwin City Council (Council) through its Evolving Darwin Strategic Directions: Towards 2020 and Beyond, provides a vision of enhancing Darwin’s
unique lifestyle and tropical feel with a strong focus on the environment and sustainability, for residents and visitors alike. Increasingly, jurisdictions are seeing human induced climate change as one of the most significant and controversial global environmental issues facing local, regional and global communities.
Climate change is relevant to a wide range of local government functions, and has become a high profile issue for Council which acknowledges and respects the importance of addressing climate change and environmental priorities in a way that is not only beneficial for the organisation and community but also for the land and water managed by adjoining Local Governments, the Australian and Northern Territory Governments, and the Larrakia people. Infrastructure represents a major investment for Council and so it is important to ensure that it is designed and constructed to accommodate the predicted effects of climate change. The additional expense of making new infrastructure and buildings more resilient to climate change is costly, but to not do so has the potential to be even more so. Coastal storm surges and subsequent flooding to urban facilities, along with the degradation and failure of materials requires recognition of likely climate change, its impacts and the appropriate adaptation measures which need to occur now. Adaptation to climate change is a relatively new policy challenge. It is important of Council to encourage sustainable development for the future growth and strategic planning of Darwin. Council is meeting the challenge by taking into consideration a range of infrastructure and cost-effective energy savings initiatives to reduce our contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. Council is well placed to do this and by taking positive steps to reduce its carbon foot print, Council recognises that delaying action to address climate change will increase the environmental and
societal consequences as well as the costs. Strong leadership at all levels is needed. Council is committed to meeting the challenge. We owe this to future generations.
The Climate Change Action Plan 2011-2020 underpins this policy. Council is committed to finding practical and effective ways to address climate change concerns within the municipality. This will include managing climate change risks to natural and human systems and the built environment within the municipality using a combination of sustainable adaptation and mitigations measures. Council will ensure that its objectives of the climate change policy are incorporated into its strategic planning and decision making processes and operations.