COMMUNITY emissions will be the focus of Fremantle council’s latest climate action working group after it was formed at council’s Wednesday meeting.

Councillors Jemima Williamson-Wong, Jenny Archibald, Ben Lawver, and Fedele Camarda, as well as mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge were appointed to the working group to explore city-wide “emission reduction strategies”. 

Fremantle’s community currently produces over 500,000 tonnes of emissions, with the Council responsible for 7,000, which it hopes to reduce to net zero by 2050. 

Cr Williamson-Wong says the working group’s formation is “very exciting” given the current lack of formal structure within the council that allows funding to deal with its emissions. 

“We know that there are 500,000 tonnes of emissions sitting in our community,” Ms Williamson-Wong said. 

“Currently there’s no mechanism for us to spend money, or there’s no tactic or policy or strategy to start tackling those emissions, and so this working group basically allows us to have a group that will support the efforts that are already happening in our community.

“In the report, there’s also scope for us to invite community members into those groups, so the working group might not necessarily just be councillors, but also community members who are experts.” 

Ms Williamson-Wong says she is “pretty stoked” to be appointed to the working group given how heavily climate action featured in her campaign when she was elected last year.

“One of the biggest reasons I wanted to get into Council, is to understand how to have an impact on climate,” she said. 

“The climate crisis is such a huge issue that we can’t do everything, but at the same time, we need to be doing what we can.”

by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER