The ACT Greens have announced their plan for “a smart, climate-resilient [Canberra] that remains cool and liveable as the climate changes”.

The Greens would plant at least 20,000 street trees each year until 2045 to achieve the 30 per cent canopy cover under the ACT Urban Forest Strategy, which identified that 450,000 more trees need to be planted on public land over the next two decades. The Greens estimate that planting 5,000 more street trees would cost $10 million over four years.

Shade trees would be planted along walking and cycling routes. The Greens would protect street trees from removal, requiring their environmental and social value and their contribution to urban cooling and canopy cover targets to be considered.

Deputy leader Rebecca Vassarotti said that ACT Labor has treated environmental infrastructure as a second-order priority, while developers “have been given a free pass to make a quick buck rather than creating leafy, green, liveable suburbs”.

“All this has done for Canberrans is turn our newer suburbs into hot, dry concrete jungles in the middle of summer. As the climate crisis deepens, these conditions are only going to become more extreme unless we take urgent action now.”

New suburbs would have sufficient space for larger street trees, and individual blocks space for planted areas and trees. A network of parks and waterbodies would cool the city.

The Greens would trial and implement city cooling interventions, such as misting systems, water features, shade structures, and planted façades. Trials would cost $1 million; the Greens would seek additional funding from external partners.

New developments would be required to incorporate green space and other urban cooling features such as green walls, rooftop gardens, or green courtyards, which cool the local area. Likewise, new houses would be climate-proofed, to maintain clean indoor air, and with insulated slabs, double glazing, and light-coloured roofs. Blocks in new suburbs would feature passive solar design, maximising winter sun, summer shading, and natural ventilation.

The Greens would build 200 shaded and weather-resistant bus shelters across Canberra, so passengers would not have to wait in the sun or rain. Cost: $5 million.

A Chief Heat Officer would be appointed to oversee preparation for, responses to, and recovery from heat waves. The Greens would develop a Climate and Health Strategy to manage the health impacts of climate change (including mental health); a Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan for government; and increase funding for the Emergency Services Agency and ACT Parks and Conservation Service. Cost: an additional $10 million over four years.

“With Greens in Government the ACT has become a global leader on climate action,” ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said. “We have cut emissions by over 40 per cent, shifted to 100 per cent renewable electricity, and committed to phasing out polluting fossil fuel gas.

“But the reality is that our climate is changing, and we are already experiencing the impacts of climate change through more frequent heat waves, more intense bush fires, more severe droughts and increased intensity of rainfall events.

“We need to put in place measures across the city to adapt to the changing climate, and prepare for these extreme weather events. It’s important that we protect the most vulnerable in our community as we do this.

“With good preparation we can ease the impact of these extreme weather events on our community and make sure our city remains beautiful, safe and liveable.”

Belco Party

The Belco Party welcomed most of the Greens initiatives – planting more trees, more bus shelters, city cooling interventions, and probably increased funding for emergency services – but wondered why they were being announced on the eve of an election.

“One has to ask why now?” co-convenor Bill Stefaniak said. “The Greens have been in government for 12 years and their Labor comrades 23. Why wasn’t this all done before? Also, how many promises have the Greens and Labor made before each election only to ignore it once they have been returned to government?” The Greens, he thought, would probably forget about those measures “if people are silly enough to put them back into government”.

The Belco Party objected to the creation of a Chief Heat officer. “We’ve got too many high-paid taxpayer-funded public service positions already,” Mr Stefaniak said.

Mr Stefaniak disagreed with Mr Rattenbury’s claim that the ACT was powered by 100 per cent renewable energy: “We have over 100 per cent renewable energy investments in NSW, but we are on the same old grid as NSW, where, at last count, 60 per cent of energy used was powered by coal.”

The Belco Party has also promised to reverse the Greens’ ban on new gas connections, which Mr Stefaniak says is difficult for businesses (especially restaurants) and struggling families.

“Australia needs to use more gas as we transition away from coal,” Mr Stefaniak said. “It’s funny that as recently as 2013, the Greens were in favour of using gas, as it was cleaner than coal and was seen as a sensible transitional fuel.”

Independents for Canberra

Thomas Emerson (Independents for Canberra) said: “Canberrans often raise serious concerns with us about insufficient planning for climate adaptation on the part of the ACT Government. This lack of forward-thinking policy-making has motivated our commitment to introduce a Future Generations Act, which will ensure decision-makers are held accountable for taking action to support the wellbeing of current and future generations.

“Today’s announcement by the ACT Greens looks like the kind of policy that ACT Labor would negotiate out of their coalition governing agreement. I envision the Greens coming back to the electorate in four years’ time saying they wanted to do more on climate adaptation but Labor wouldn’t let them. Voters are rightly asking: given the lack of action we’ve seen from the Labor-Greens government over multiple terms, how seriously can we take these pre-election announcements?”

Strong Independents

Peter Strong (Strong Independents) said: “This policy statement shows that the ACT Greens forgot that climate was changing. The Greens should have reacted some time ago, not promised to take action sometime in the future. Their policy is a grab bag of thought bubbles.

“The Greens once had great visions and focused on our environment, on our flora and fauna and our neediest. Bob Brown led the way, and is celebrated still, but his ilk do not exist anymore in the local Greens.

“If these things are important, why did they wait so long? Why did they ignore their own calls to the climate emergency and focus instead on killing kangaroos and on fancy infrastructure? Where is the water coming from for the misting and water features, especially when there is a drought? Where is the action for the homeless and needy?

“The only way the ACT can get a strategy in place for dealing with and adapting for climate change is with a crossbench of knowledgeable independents.  

“Also calling for a Chief Heat Officer (CHO) is somewhat Freudian – it would be designed to take the heat off the Greens as they are no longer the party for the environment and have lost their Green way. Maybe a misting system in the Assembly would cool down overheated ideologues and get common sense instead.”

The Strong Independents released their climate adaptation plan yesterday.