The Friends of the Earth (FOE) have created an excellent submission guide to support and encourage all of us make a submission to the State Government of Victoria’s Inquiry into Climate Resilience.

Submissions close on May 1st.

From the FOE page:

The Victorian government is running an Inquiry into Climate Resilience, which will look into the preparedness of communities facing climate disasters across the state. This is an opportunity for you to share your experiences, stories, concerns and ideas for climate adaptation. Do you think Victoria is prepared for incoming climate impacts? What do you think the state needs to do to prepare?

FOE’s submission guide, linked below, outlines the submission process and makes it easy for you to have your say to ensure VIC’s climate adaptation is community led…

https://www.melbournefoe.org.au/climate-resilience-inquiry-submissions

EGCAN member and East Gippsland local, Nola has already made a submission which is included below.

The Committee: Inquiry into Climate Resilience, Parliament Victoria

To Whom it May Concern,

My name is Nola and I am writing to you as a very concerned elderly citizen, and possibly a person who could be considered vulnerable and at risk from the impacts of Climate Change. I believe it is vitally important that all citizens are fully educated about the possible and impending implications from climate related weather events, and are fully prepared to deal with these. In order for this to happen appropriate infrastructure also needs to be in place, and all levels of government have a role to play in upholding their duty of care to keep their constituents safe. 

Please consider the following areas :

1. Community Education: given that climate change is now an undeniable reality this acknowledgement must be made before communities are able to understand that they have a need to prepare for the impacts that they will likely experience. Each area of the country is unique in the sorts of climate impacts that the people may experience in their region so scientific studies and predictions should be carried out and the information distributed throughout local government areas as to what the risks are likely to be.

2. Once the community become fully aware of what the future potentially holds, preparation can commence. This requires comprehensive plans at all levels from individuals, to services and infrastructure.

3. At a government level adequate infrastructure must be in place before individuals can make their own emergency plans. Governments at all levels must ensure that there are fall back positions for communication breakdown, and services that can be accessed by individuals in times of emergency. As an example of what is required, the area where I live has no “Cool Zones” or places that can be accessed by vulnerable people during a heatwave. Being a rural area there are no large shopping centres, and the average household income is far below that of households in the city.

Therefore those without air conditioning, renting, or in the middle of a electricity blackout, have nowhere to go to keep their body temperature regulated. It is a well known fact that infants, pregnant women, the elderly, those with specific medical conditions or on certain medications, have difficulty avoiding heatstroke when they do not have access to a regulated temperature. Heatstroke is a big killer and sure to become more so as temperatures increase and days over 40 degrees are more frequent. The lack of adequate facilities for people to access then has severe impacts on emergency services, and can cause irreversible damage to health or even death.

4. Most communication services now rely on electricity which leaves people without access to any form of communication in order to call for emergency services or assistance in a blackout. This is a huge concern and an alternative needs to become a part of all Emergency Plans. My own area had no wifi or electricity during a recent storm event. While communities can be encouraged to include caring for each other in their personal plans governments must still devise the overarching plans.

5. Town planning and housing continues to lack consideration for a heating climate. Current housing standards mean buildings are too large, have inadequate insulation, and continue to allow black and dark roofing. New suburbs have too many hard surfaces and too little shade in the form of trees, or plants to help cool the areas.

 Certainly well prepared communities will be much more resilient and recover better when climate impacts occur. However communities require good leadership to outline the risks and provide education about these, develop adequate and appropriate infrastructure, and ensure the community is working together with them to adapt to climate change while at the same time addressing the need for climate mitigation to slow the further climate crisis in the future.

Thanking you for considering my submission,

Kind regards,

Nola