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​10th Anniversary Stories
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Videos

Case studies
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​Mildura Rural City Council: Rural Climate Emergency City and Solar Capital of Australia
​When Mildura Rural City Council declared a climate emergency in 2020, it was about showing leadership and taking practical action.
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​They have installed over 1 megawatt of rooftop solar across council buildings and installed electric vehicle charging points across the community in a bid to become the solar capital of Australia and its most EV-friendly municapility. Learn more. 

More videos.
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Bellingen Shire Council: a team effort built on a legacy of leadership
Declaring a climate emergency has made a huge difference in Bellingen. After declaring, Bellingen Shire Council established a Climate Emergency Response Framework and adopted emissions reduction targets.


​A whole-of-Council approach means reaching their emissions reduction targets is not the sole responsibility of a single officer but rather a collaborative approach across all areas of Council. Learn more. 

Media

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​Bellingen Shire Council continues to deliver on climate action

​Bellingen Shire Council has cemented itself as a leader on climate action among small rural councils by recording a 69% reduction in fuel and electricity emissions for 2025/26 compared to its baseline year of 2009/10.
Read more.

Want to tell YOUR story?

​If you've got a story to tell about your council's climate emergency journey, let us know! We are spotlighting councils around the country through videos, case studies and media - get in touch with us. 

Have declarations really made a difference?

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The stories our councils tell say that yes, making a declaration did spur them on to greater action - and so does some recent research.

​The last Local Government Review (put together by Ironbark in 2024) found that in more than half of the councils that had declared, council officers and community members reported that the Executive Team and CEO had taken climate change more seriously since declaring (amongst other positive things.) Read more.

In 2025 Judy Bush and Andréanne Doyon published 'Climate emergency declarations by local governments – what comes next?' in Nature. They found that almost all declared Victorian councils had gone on to release new climate emergency/action plans - something that differentiates them from councils that have been reviewed in some European studies (though this is still a new field of research). They also pointed to the role of alliances and collaboration between councils as key to Victoria's leadership.