John Pettigrew, Robert McLean and Terry Court recently called on the council to announce the emergency, claiming the necessity of leadership.
“What we need in this region is leadership,” Mr Pettigrew said.
“The mayor is the spokesperson of the council; when we say leadership, we expect the mayor to be out there declaring that we do have a climate problem.
“If the leaders of this region really come out and make a statement it will encourage everyone to focus on the issue.”
The group hopes by council leaders stepping up and publicly declaring a climate emergency it will trigger a wave of action in the community.
The council said it was concerned about the climate and was providing leadership in climate action through a number of projects to reduce emissions both on its own and as a member of Goulburn Broken Greenhouse Alliance.
“Council has been working on its energy efficiency with solar installations, energy analysis of large sites to determine actions to reduce energy usage, and consideration of purchase of renewable power for all council sites,” City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Kim O’Keeffe said.
“(As) a member of the Goulburn Broken Greenhouse Alliance, (council) has participated in a number of projects that have looked at improving our emissions reductions, such as the Watts Working Better Streetlight Replacement project, which saw more than 16,000 streetlights being changed to more energy-efficient units.”
But the trio of activists said that was not enough.
“Only through seriously focusing on what sort of adaptation we need to take in this region will we be able to protect ourselves in the future,” Mr Pettigrew said.
“More than 10 years ago when I started, I thought this was going to be tough to get people’s attention. I’m not surprised from that aspect.
“But I didn’t think I’d see many of the effects of climate change in my lifetime.
“What we are seeing around the world and to have no response to it has been one hell of a wake-up call. The evidence of climate change is coming on quicker than we thought because past predictions have been conservative.”
The trio is aware that if the council declares a climate emergency it will not dissolve the division among the region between those who believe and those who deny climate change exists. However, they do believe they will see the necessary changes made if the council leaders take the issue to the public.
“We are more likely to see those changes if councils adopt a climate emergency,” Mr Pettigrew said.
“We are not blind to the fact that this region is naturally politically conservative.
“That’s the frustrating part as those conservative politics have held back any major changes required.”
Mr Pettigrew said expecting other leaders to step up and state the facts was not a far-fetched possibility.
“It’s not a radical change to what’s happening. It’s a small step, the council is doing a lot of good things but could be doing a lot more,” he said.
“The climate emergency plans we have seen other councils adopt don’t go much further than what (the Greater Shepparton City Council) is doing now.
“By you and I speaking out it puts political pressure on governments and the hope is that that pressure gradually builds up to a point where action is taken, and change happens.”
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