Brisbane Declares a Climate Emergency

At last evening’s meeting, the Brisbane City Council unanimously passed a Climate Emergency Declaration.  Councilmember Lentz applauded the Open Space and Ecology Committee and staff for their efforts and urgency, saying “it’s the greatest issue that we have to deal with as a species, and we have some great opportunities to make a difference.”

The resolution emphasizes the severity of the climate crisis and the need to take action at the pace and scale commensurate with an emergency.  It declares the City’s continued commitment to climate action and adds new focus on environmental and social justice, to ensure that the transition to a greener economy doesn’t leave behind those bearing the worst impacts of our extractive fossil fuel economy. 

Brisbane achieved an estimated 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from our 2005 baseline by 2017, the latest completed inventory, which beat the previous goals set by the City’s 2015 Climate Action Plan.  The Climate Emergency Declaration establishes ambitious new targets of a 66% reduction by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2040. 

The resolution, developed by the Open Space and Ecology Committee’s Climate Action Plan subcommittee and City sustainability staff, was modeled on Climate Emergency Declarations from San Francisco and San Mateo County.  Brisbane joins these and numerous other jurisdictions across the region and world in recognizing the urgent threat to humanity, the environment and countless other species, and committing to take the actions needed to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. 

Read the full Climate Emergency Declaration and staff report here.