MEDIA RELEASE: World's first climate emergency council, Darebin, calls on big polluters to pay for climate damage
Climate Media Centre
Darebin City Council, the first government anywhere in the world to declare a climate emergency, has unanimously passed a motion calling on the Federal Government to establish a National Climate Compensation Fund, funded through a levy on major coal, oil and gas corporations, to help meet the rising costs of climate-fuelled disasters landing on councils and communities across Australia.
The motion followed a paper petition signed by 35 supporters and a digital petition signed by more than 400 others, and was moved by Cr. Julie O’Brien and passed unanimously at Darebin’s council meeting on Tuesday.
Julie O’Brien, Councillor who moved the motion, said: “This call for a Climate Compensation Fund came from our community, and I felt it was important to bring their voice into the chamber. The climate emergency is here, and its impacts are being felt now so we need a clear way forward. With financial sustainability already a major challenge for councils, we’re calling on the federal government to deliver a national solution and make the big polluters pay their share.”
Darebin made global history in December 2016 when Councillor Trent McCarthy moved the world’s first government-level climate emergency declaration, a decision that went on to inspire similar declarations from governments across the world, including in the United States and the United Kingdom. Almost a decade on, the council is joining a growing number of Australian councils, including the City of Sydney, Byron Shire, City of Parramatta, City of Newcastle, City of Hobart, Tweed Shire and Bayside, calling on the Federal Government to make coal and gas corporations pay their fair share of the costs their pollution is driving.
Lesley Walker, Darebin resident who presented the community petition to council, said: “We all know it’s unfair and unsustainable for communities like ours to keep paying for climate change disasters through our higher insurance premiums, rising food costs and disaster recovery bills, while also adapting our homes and gardens and dealing with disrupted lives and grief. The diverse group of locals our small team spoke with were overwhelmingly in favour of the idea. Those who supported and signed our petition included octogenarians on mobility scooters, young security guards, a member of the group Asians for Climate Solutions and a rusted-on Union Labor man. The common thread was a need for fairness and urgency.”
Nationally, fires, floods and cyclones cost Australia $38 billion a year, with costs projected to rise to $73 billion by 2060. The Australia Institute has found that insured losses from climate-related disasters have risen more than twelve times in twenty years, while local government revenue has grown only three times over the same period.
The Climate Compensation Fund seeks to close this gap, giving Darebin and councils across the country the resources they need to manage climate damage and help their communities thrive.
MEDIA CONTACT: Sean Kennedy, Senior Media Advisor, Climate Media Centre, 0447 121 378, [email protected]
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BACKGROUND
• Darebin City Council became the first government anywhere in the world to declare a climate emergency, on 5 December 2016, moved by then-Councillor Trent McCarthy (SBS News; City of Darebin).
• The Darebin Community for Climate Compensation working group has been gathering local signatures in support of the campaign ahead of the vote (Darebin Climate Action Now).
• Darebin is bordered by the Merri Creek to the west, Darebin Creek to the east and the Yarra River to the south, and flooding is the greatest natural threat to lives and property in the municipality (City of Darebin Libraries).
• Victoria’s SES and local reporting have flagged that flash flooding around Merri and Darebin creeks, including in Thornbury and Preston, can occur with little to no warning (VICSES; Broadsheet).
• The motion was passed unanimously at Darebin’s council meeting on Tuesday, 25 August 2026.
• Fires, floods and cyclones cost Australia $38 billion a year, projected to rise to $73 billion by 2060 (Deloitte Access Economics, 2021).
• 434 of Australia’s 537 councils were affected by climate-fuelled disasters between 2019 and 2023 (ALGA).
• Insured losses from climate-related disasters have risen more than twelve times in twenty years, while local government revenue has grown only three times over the same period (Australia Institute, 2025).
• Federal and state governments provide about $14.9 billion a year in fossil fuel subsidies, more than 14 times the $4.75 billion national disaster response fund (Australia Institute, 2025).
• Santos reported ten consecutive years of zero corporate tax payments to 2024–25, despite $47 billion in sales.
• Coal, oil and gas corporations are responsible for three quarters of Australia’s climate pollution.
• Councils maintain around half a trillion dollars in community infrastructure, including about 75 per cent of the nation’s roads (ALGA).
Contact details:
Sean Kennedy, Senior Media Advisor, Climate Media Centre — 0447 121 378 — [email protected]