The Climate Council is Australia's leading climate change communications non-profit organisation formed to provide independent, authoritative information on climate change and its solutions to the Australian public. It aims to catalyse action on the climate crisis across society, by pushing for political and business leaders to implement solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It was created by former members of the Climate Commission after it was abolished by the Australian federal government. It is funded by donations from the public.
Following the announcement that the Climate Commission was to be wound up, there was a large public movement calling for its immediate reinstatement. This began on social media but transitioned to include an online petition on not-for-profit advocacy site CommunityRun by Cameron Neil. Following the success of the online petition, former chief commissioner of the Climate Commission, Tim Flannery announced on 23 September 2013 that a non-profit organisation, the Climate Council, would be launched. The founders of the Climate Council were all former commissioners of the disbanded Climate Commission, including Flannery, Veena Sahajwalla, Lesley Hughes, Will Steffen, and Gerry Hueston. Andrew Stock later joined as the sixth Climate Councillor.
Funding
The startup funding for the Council was raised through crowdfunding, with donations opening at midnight on 23 September, and the first donation being $15. By mid-afternoon on Tuesday 24 September $165,000 had been donated, and by the end of that day $218,000 had been given by 7,200 members of the public. Flannery told The Conversation on the Tuesday that the Council intended to raise $500,000 by the end of that first week. In fact, by Friday of the first week, in a stronger than expected response, over 20,000 people had donated amounts totalling close to $1 million. The use of crowdfunding has been criticised as being unsustainable, and Philanthropy Australia implored the Council to seek ongoing funding from one or two major donors. This would, however, open the organisation up to questioning of its independence as funds sourced from larger donors could potentially compromise the Council's apolitical position. Flannery has accepted this difficulty, conceding that "no one has really done this before" and that the "common resolve is that the second that anyone asks us to do anything or say anything they will get their money back. Independence is central to our credibility. We shall see as we go along what mechanisms are required".
Independence
Tim Flannery is frequently cited as having stated that: "Our independence is central to our credibility, so if people do donate, don't try to influence what we do". This is the most controversial aspect of the newly formed organisation, a point alluded to by Flannery on countless occasions. Mark Wootton of the Climate Institute, speaking in support of the Climate Council, cited the need for an organisation to "hold account perhaps the government at times". Yet Flannery has denied any intention to campaign, saying: "We won't be running any political campaigns, we won't be running any agendas." During 2018 the choice of language and the naming of the Federal government in terms of its recalcitrance on climate indicated a move away from this claimed apolitical agenda.
Projects
The Climate Council launched the in 2017 to provide councils and communities with the technical expertise and advice to transition to a clean, renewable energy future. The CPP is Australia’s largest local governmentclimate network. Local councils who join the partnership make five action pledges in either renewable energy, efficiency, transport or working in partnership to tackle climate change.
