In addition to a Climate Change Declaration (CCD) - A Climate Change Emergency Declaration (CCED), or declaring a Climate Emergency, is an action taken by Governments and scientists to acknowledge that humanity is in a climate crisis. The first Declaration was made by an Australian Local Government in December 2016 (the City of Darebin in Melbourne).

A CCED may be adopted by Local Governments committed to taking urgent climate action, intending to allocate resources to rapidly scale up mitigation and adaptation actions. 

It is a commitment to “mobilise society-wide resources at sufficient scale and speed to protect civilisation, the economy, people, species and ecosystems” and to “fully restore a safe climate”. The purpose of framing climate change as an emergency is to:

• Communicate the urgency and systems change needed

• Encourage citizens and politicians to work together for the common good, as they would in other emergency situations

According to https://climateemergencydeclaration.org/, 2,359 Local Government jurisdictions in 18 nations and over 30 countries have declared a Climate Emergency. These areas cover a substantial geographical area, hosting a population in excess of 1 billion citizens. 

The City of Armadale has endorsed a CCED. This includes similar information to the CCD, but also: 

• Further acknowledges the more serious results of climate change (loss of life and the destruction of vital ecosystems) 

• Commits the organisation to reaching zero emissions as fast as humanly possible, with the scaling up of efforts to draw down excess greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere

• States all levels of government (State, Federal and Local) have a duty to respond to the negative impacts of climate change

• Commits to working with the Community, State and Federal government and business to mitigate the climate emergency 

• Identifies the need to revisit Local Government climate change policies and strategies to ensure action is being taken at the necessary scale and speed to meet climate emergency commitments

• Ensures the mobilisation of Government, Community resources and funds not normally available

There are 118 Local Governments in Australia that have signed a CCED, including 11 in Western Australia (8 in the metropolitan area).