PETITION TO RESTORE THE MORNINGTON PENINSULA SHIRE COUNCIL CLIMATE EMERGENCY DECLARATION AND THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY PLAN

The focus

This petition is directed to the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council (MPSC) urging them to re-instate the Climate Emergency Declaration, and the Climate Emergency Plan 2020 – 2030.

Who has generated this petition

It has been generated by a coalition of Mornington Peninsula climate and environmental groups, including but not limited to Mornington Peninsula Landcare Network, Save Westernport, Repower Mornington Peninsula, Victorian Farmers Federation MP, The Westernport Biosphere, MP Koala Conservation Group, Flinders Zero Carbon Community, Nepean Conservation Group, ACF Community Mornington, MP Labor Environment Action Group, Sybils XR, Regen Mornington Peninsula, Westernport and Peninsula Protection Council

More information can be found at: www.saveourclimateplanmp.org or go to our instagram account @saveourclimateplanmp

What is the issue?

On 22 April, 2025 the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council (MPSC) revoked their commitment to meaningful action on climate change by rescinding the Strategic Climate Emergency Plan 2020 – 2030 and the Climate Emergency Declaration.

Both the Climate Emergency Declaration and the Climate Emergency Plan (CEP) were developed after widespread community consultation and were supported by 92% of Shire residents in 2019/20.

The CEP provided a strategic approach to addressing the major present and future dangers to our environment and community from climate change. 

The Peninsula is particularly vulnerable to the increased frequency of extreme weather events caused by climate change such as heat waves, bushfires, flooding, and drought, with disruptive effects on the local environment, as well as financial costs to the community, agriculture, and tourism.

Council, under Victorian legislation, has a duty of care to manage foreseeable risks in relation to climate change. The Climate Emergency Plan provided a framework by which all Council actions would be guided and was achieving impressive outcomes.

Without a coherent and strategic plan any meaningful action on climate change will be very problematic.

We are deeply concerned that these changes in Council’s priorities were made with:

• No prior notice
• No specific community consultation
• No associated business plan to assess the potential implications for the peoples, environment, agriculture, or commercial activities of the Peninsula.

We do not accept Council’s misleading and inaccurate claims that the work done under the Climate Emergency Plan was a waste of resources. If there were issues with any specific actions, these should have been reviewed and dealt with as needed, rather than throwing out the entire Plan and the Climate Emergency Declaration.

We note that such Declarations and Plans are central to climate actions across most local government councils including all those surrounding our municipality. MPSC is out of step.

Please sign this petition
Show the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council that you do not support their decision to abandon the Climate Emergency Declaration and Climate Emergency Action Plan and ask that they reverse this decision.

We respectfully and urgently request that MPSC:

1. Reinstates both the Climate Emergency Declaration, and the Climate Emergency Plan, with effective funding and staffing for 2025-26;
2. Commits to extensive community consultation prior to any further changes to the Climate Emergency Plan;
3. Meets their responsibility to present and future generations by continuing to address the growing challenges of a changing Mornington Peninsula climate, through the strategic, targeted approach of a Climate Emergency Plan.