Project Planning and Tracker Template�
[Hub Name]
Climate Emergency Community
PROJECT NAME:
Local Climate Emergency Declaration
START DATE:
END DATE:
Approx. Month/Year
IMPACT AREA:
PROBLEM STATEMENT:
Local authorities (county/district/city council), in [county/district/city] needs to declare climate emergency so that they can prioritize addressing the rapid climate change on a local [county/district/city] level.
TARGET GROUP:
Direct target group: local authorities. Indirect target group: local community.
MILESTONES AND TIMELINES
PRIMARY CONTACT(S):
STAGE:
Who can answer questions for this project?
(see Worksheet #1 from the Steps to Startup course for more detailed instructions)
PROPOSED SOLUTION:
The goal of the project is to encourage local authorities (eg. municipality decision-makers) to declare ‘climate emergency’, acknowledging the urgency and necessity of taking climate action at every level of society and committing to taking said action at a local level.
(see Worksheet #8 from the Steps to Startup course for more details)
Approx. Month/Year
RESOURCES NEEDED
MILESTONES AND TIMELINES
The project is divided into 3 stages: LISTEN, CONNECT, ACT, based on the Climate Reality Europe’s ‘Climate Emergency Communities’ guidelines (available in the “Resources needed” section.
LISTEN (1-3 months)
CONNECT (3-6 months)
ACT (6-12 months)
LINK TO PROJECT TOPLINK PAGE:
insert link
Is the project information on TopLink updated with the latest updates?
COLLABORATORS:
What other Hubs or organizations did your Hub work with? (leave blank if none)
AVAILABLE METRICS:
What numeric outputs, outcomes, and impact does the project have? For example:
Local Climate Emergency Declaration
- Page 2
LONG-TERM CHANGE:
Once a local government makes a declaration, the next step for the declaring government is to set priorities to mitigate climate change, prior to ultimately entering a state of emergency or equivalent. In declaring a climate emergency, a government admits that climate change (or global warming) exists and that the measures taken up to this point are not enough to limit the changes brought by it. The decision stresses the need for the administration to cooperate with stakeholders, devise measures that try to stop human-caused global warming on local level.
SHORT-TERM GOALS / RESULTS:
The immediate result of the actions taken by the Hub should be the declaration of climate emergency made by the selected local authority (on a district/city level). An “emergency declaration” demonstrates that the local government rates the problem as very serious, that priority will be given to resolving the crisis, that we are all in the crisis together and that, officially, “business as usual” and “reform-as-usual” no longer applies.
‘Emergency mode’ provides:1) clarity of purpose to protect all people, societies, and ecosystems, 2) risk management through 3) full and transparent assessment of rapid climate change impacts, 4) full and frank communication - large scale and rapid action requires whole-of-society and political bipartisanship, 5) highest priority so that sufficient resources are applied to address the challenge, 6) government leadership enabling the transformation of the physical economy at a great speed (based on a dialogue with the community), as well as 7) ensuring fairness so that the burden of transformation is shared in a reasonable manner.
(consider the “Outputs” of the project as defined in Step 2 of Steps to Startup)
(consider the “Outcomes” and “Impact” of the project as defined in Step 2 of Steps to Startup)
Local Climate Emergency Declaration
- Page 3
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER DECLARING CLIMATE EMERGENCY?
Once a local government makes a declaration, the next step for the declaring government is to set priorities to mitigate climate change, prior to ultimately entering a state of emergency or equivalent. In declaring a climate emergency, a local government admits that climate change (or global warming) exists and that the measures taken up to this point are not enough to limit the changes brought by it. The decision stresses the need for the administration to devise measures that try to stop human-caused global warming.
ABOUT THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY DECLARATION:
A climate emergency declaration or declaring a climate emergency is a strategic decision taken by local governments or national parliaments to acknowledge humanity is in a climate emergency and support defining an action plan to mobilize all stakeholders to address the climate crisis. The first such declaration was made by a local government in December 2016. Since then over 1,900 local governments in 34 countries have made climate emergency declarations (as of June 2021). Populations covered by jurisdictions that have declared a climate emergency amount to over 1 billion citizens.
WHY IS DECLARING CLIMATE EMERGENCY IMPORTANT?
A Climate Emergency declaration issued by a body in authority, such as a government or local council, can be a powerful catalyst for community-wide action if paired with a clear action plan.
“To evaluate whether we are currently in a climate crisis, the public will look to each other — and particularly to the climate organizations, writers, and leaders. Are they calling it an emergency? Does the tone of their writing and statements convey alarm and a passionate desire for massive action to avert imminent crisis? Are they demanding an emergency response? Are they acting like it’s an emergency? Are they themselves in emergency mode? If the answer to these questions is “no,” the individual will conclude that there must not be an emergency, or that emergency action is hopeless because the leaders are apparently unwilling to coordinate emergency action.” Margaret Klein Salamon PhD, psychologist, founder of The Climate Mobilization in the US.
People who were previously complacent about the climate crisis may respond with fear if their local council declares a Climate Emergency, but that fear will be channelled into action if their local council also gives clear information about the most effective ways everyone can take action and the realistic outcomes to expect from those actions.