STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
THE CITY OF SYDNEY’S C40 WOMEN4CLIMATE MENTORSHIP PROGRAM SEES FEMALE CLIMATE LEADERS HELP OTHER WOMEN WORKING ON ENVIRONMENT PROJECTS. SYDNEY’S DEPUTY LORD MAYOR JESS SCULLY EXPLAINS WHY COLLECTIVE ACTION IS ESSENTIAL IN TACKLING THE ECO CRISIS
A unique mentorship program is helping people take action for climate change.
how are we going to beat climate change? This is a question that will define our lives. As temperatures and sea levels rise, droughts lengthen, fires burn hotter and entire ecosystems fall apart, human ingenuity and perseverance will be pushed to their limits.
In Australia, the past 10 years of federal politics have provided little cause for optimism, but action is coming from the bottom up. Regular people are coming together and doing what they can to slow the march of global heating, mitigate its impacts and bring the day we reach a zero-carbon economy closer.
As Deputy Lord Mayor and a councillor of the City Of Sydney, I’m constantly blown away by the resourcefulness and tenacity in our local communities. Neighbourhood associations are crowdfunding to install solar panels on the roofs of lowincome houses. Rural towns are pooling their resources to help transition out of the destructive extraction economy and to have a role in a positive-energy future, by investing in communityowned wind and solar farms. People are pulling their money out of financial institutions that underwrite fossil fuel projects. None of these initiatives on their own will solve the climate crisis; no single undertaking will. It will be a constellation of actions, enacted by ordinary people, that render the fossil economy obsolete and lay the groundwork for a greener society.
The City Of Sydney is doing everything it can to bring that change closer. From July, 100 per cent of our electricity will come from renewable energy sources, including solar and wind farms in regional NSW. That kind of support is going to be vital in ensuring a just transition for rural communities dependent on fossil fuels. We’ve partnered with major CBD businesses to reduce carbon emissions, phase out single-use plastic, cut down food waste and recycle water. From 2008 to 2019, we reduced emissions in our own operations by 25 per cent. We’ve planted
thousands of trees and installed stormwater harvesting and water recycling systems wherever we can. Last year, we joined thousands of jurisdictions across the globe to declare a climate emergency. It’s only by banding together, and recognising that we are stronger united than we are isolated, that we will be able to meet this challenge.
Wherever you are, whatever you do, you can be a part of the solution. The women featured in this story are ordinary people doing extraordinary things – working to transform their sectors and bring a renewables-powered future closer. I hope their stories inspire you to take action in whatever way you can. Changing the world is a big job, and we can’t do it without you.