As Australian communities fight back from the economic impacts of COVID-19 in 2020, more than 40 mayors and councillors from across the country have released a statement declaring they will help create a stronger economy that also tackles climate change.
There is no doubt that COVID-19 has battered the Australian economy. ABS figures show that around 600,000 Australians lost their job, making up about 3 per cent of the total workforce. The economy has taken a beating and more people are experiencing mental illness and financial stress than ever before.
Local councils will play a major role in the economic recovery from COVID-19, but many of these councils still also have the memories of the 2019/20 bushfires fresh in their minds. Those unprecedented fires were dubbed The Black Summer and burned through an estimated 18.6 million hectares, destroying almost 6000 buildings and killing at least 34 people.
So Mayors and Councillors have united to pledge their support in driving an economic recovery that includes job opportunities for those that were put out by COVID-19 while also committing to tackling climate change in the wake of The Black Summer.
Blue Mountains City Council Mayor Mark Greenhill is one of the many who have signed up for this pledge after seeing the carnage of the bushfires first hand at the Gosper Mountain fire.
He said it was critical for Australia to respond to climate change to prevent such fires from happening again and called out the Federal Government for their lack of action.
“As mayor of a community hit by last season’s catastrophic bushfires, which were supercharged by climate change, it’s extremely disappointing to see that climate remains a glaringly missing piece on the federal agenda,” Cr Greenhill said.
“The Blue Mountains community, which is heavily dependent on tourism dollars, has largely been cut off since October 2019. Some people simply cannot afford to rebuild their homes, and many have lost their jobs. We can’t pay the price of inaction much longer.”
Sydney’s City of Ryde Mayor Jerome Laxale has also backed the pledge and said local councils were at the forefront of economic recovery from bushfires, floods, or the pandemic.
“Local governments across Australia can lead communities through a zero-carbon recovery by prioritising local jobs, building sustainable infrastructure and investing in renewables,” he said.
Global push from councils to combat climate change
The Australian movement is not alone. A global movement called C40 Cities: Global Mayors COVID-19 Recovery Taskforce has seen mayors from around the world unite to call for climate change measures to be part of the coronavirus economic recovery. It includes mayors from the United States, Canada, Greece, France, Dubai, Norway and many more countries and has outlined a nine-point agenda of measures that will help economies recover and also tackle climate change.
“C40 mayors have united to launch the Global Mayors COVID-19 Recovery Task Force to rebuild our cities & economies in a way that improves public health, reduces inequality and addresses the climate crisis,” their mission statement reads.
