Blue Mountains Climate Compensation Fund

Dear BM Climate Compensation group,

I have sent an email to ward 3 councillors in the BMCC about the proposed motion for a fund, as the deadline for notices of motion is urgent at 9/4/26.

PLEASE IF YOU CAN - contact Cr Hollywood, West and Hoare and urge them to put it forward. Details of the email are given below in the updates.......

Dear Councillors Romola Hollywood, Deputy Major, Claire West, and Brent Hoare
I am the organizer of a local group called Blue Mountains Climate Compensation Fund. Our group is part of the Communities for Climate Compensation network, organizing and speaking with residents about rising climate impacts and costs.
Through this campaign, surveys, petitions and community organising, neighbours, local organisations, businesses and community leaders are coming together around shared concerns about safety, fairness and the future of their communities within the Blue Mountains National Park discussing concerns about climate change.

Our group is asking you to put forward notice of the proposed motion to the Blue Mountains City Council regarding the establishment of a Federal Climate Compensation Fund paid for by coal, oil and gas corporations, to help communities recover from climate disasters and prepare for future climate impacts. This notice of motion could be put forward for the 25/5/2026 BMCC meeting. It is also asked that the BMCC support a similar motion at the next Australian Local Government Association National General Assembly in June 2026 for consideration as a national advocacy priority to further this issue.
For this motion to be considered by BMCC I was informed that the Notice of Motion needs to be submitted by Thursday 9/4/2026, so timeliness is essential. However as Cr Romola Hollywood is attending the ALGA National Assembly it could be treated by her as a matter of urgency and submitted to BMCC after 9/4/26.

The City of Sydney Council has already passed a similar motion and has asked the ALGA National Assembly to approve a united motion for all LGA councils. Please see attached motions.
The Climate Compensation fund would be financed through a levy on major coal, oil and gas exports, ensuring that the corporations, whose pollution drives climate change, contribute to the costs communities are already facing. Analysis suggests such a levy could raise around $46 billion per year to support communities responding to climate impacts.

Money from the fund could support things like repairing infrastructure after disasters, strengthening community resilience, helping households recover from climate impacts, supporting and rehabilitating wildlife, bushfire brigade water planes, non-PFAS related fire retardants, and preparing communities for future risks.
In short: communities shouldn’t have to carry these costs alone — big polluters should pay their fair share.
Across Australia, communities are already living with the impacts and rising costs of climate change.
Floods, bushfires, heatwaves and storms are becoming more frequent and severe. Between 2019 and 2023, 434 of Australia’s 537 councils were impacted by disasters, and these events now cost Australia around $38 billion every year — about $3,800 per household.

Our local councils are on the frontline of these impacts. They repair damaged roads, maintain community infrastructure like sewerage and rebuild after disasters, while also preparing for future risks. But disaster costs are rising faster than council revenue, leaving many councils and ratepayers under growing financial pressure.
At the same time, the corporations most responsible for driving climate change — the coal, oil and gas industry — are making billions in profits while contributing very little towards the costs their pollution creates for communities.
This disconnect is becoming harder to ignore. Communities are increasingly asking a simple question: why are ordinary people paying the price for damage caused by profitable corporations?

That’s why the idea of making polluters pay is resonating right now. Polling shows around 68% of Australians support requiring major polluters to contribute to the costs of climate damage, and support for taxing gas exports cuts across the political spectrum — including voters who often disagree on climate policy.
Our local council would have reliable funding for disaster recovery and climate resilience — instead of constantly scrambling after each disaster. Communities could invest in flood-proofed homes and infrastructure, shaded streets and cool public spaces during heatwaves, upgraded evacuation centres, and well-resourced emergency services and disaster preparedness programs.
It could also mean investing in communities already experiencing the most severe impacts. For First Nations communities, this could support climate responses grounded in culture, knowledge and connection to Country —

strengthening community-led adaptation, protecting land and water, and supporting infrastructure so communities can remain safe and strong on their lands.
The fund could also support workers and communities through the transition away from coal and gas, helping ensure regions and industries are not left behind.

I also ask your advice on –
• how best to continue to bring this motion to council.
• What would help this motion gain support in Council
• What community support would make it easier for councillors to back this motion. We are in the process of surveying local people about this motion and can provide details of these surveys.
• Further wording of the motion that would be more effective locally

Thank you for your consideration of this motion and I ask to be kept informed of your position on this motion and whether you would be open to staying in touch as the campaign develops.

The Motion is –
“Item [X.X] Motion – Climate Compensation and Protecting Ratepayers
To be moved by Councillor Romola Hollywood, Deputy Major, seconded by Councillors Claire West and Brent Hoare –
It is resolved that:
(1) Council note:
(a) that the Blue Mountains City Council is experiencing increasing climate impacts, including flooding, bushfires, heatwaves, and erosion, placing pressure on local infrastructure, services and community wellbeing;
b) the rising costs—financial and otherwise—experienced by households, businesses, community organisations and commercial farmers in responding to climate impacts, including:
● damage to homes, infrastructure and the natural environment;
● increasing insurance premiums and energy costs;
● income loss, business disruption and housing displacement; and
● impacts on First Nations cultural heritage and community resilience;

(c) the growing financial pressure on Council budgets, including costs associated with disaster response, infrastructure repair and resilience upgrades;
(d) that local governments have limited revenue-raising capacity and that passing escalating climate-related costs onto ratepayers is neither fair nor sustainable and risks undermining essential services; and
(e) that the “polluter pays” principle holds that those responsible for pollution should contribute to managing its impacts.
(f) that surveys of local residents are showing the need for council to pass a ‘polluter pays motion’.
(2) Council therefore resolves to:
(a) call on the Australian Government and Parliament to:
(i) to establish a Climate Compensation Fund to support communities, households and local governments in meeting the costs of climate adaptation, resilience and disaster recovery;

(ii) introduce a Climate Pollution Levy on coal, gas and oil export corporations, to raise the funds for the Climate Compensation Fund and pay for the climate damage these corporations are causing.
(iii) ensure the National Climate Compensation Fund includes a dedicated funding stream for local governments, commensurate with the scale of the financial risks identified in the 2025 National Climate Risk Assessment.
(iv) Establish a Parliamentary Inquiry into the adequacy of the 2025 National Adaptation Plan, specifically addressing the lack of additional funding for local governments to deliver mandated adaptation responses.
(b) further call on the Federal Government to provide sustained, legislated funding that enables Blue Mountains City Council to plan and deliver climate solutions and a just transition for the Blue Mountains council area with certainty;

(c) advocate for revenue raised through such mechanisms to allow for Council to prioritise:
● strengthening local infrastructure resilience;
● supporting disaster-impacted communities; and
● reducing financial pressure on ratepayers; and
(d) support City of Sydney’s ‘Motion to the Australian Local Government Association National General Assembly - National Climate Adaptation Funding and Accountability for Australian Cities’ at the next Australian Local Government Association National General Assembly in June 2026 for consideration as a national advocacy priority.
(3) Council directs:
(a) the Mayor and/or Chief Executive Officer to write to the Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy and the local Federal Member of Parliament, outlining Council’s position.”

Anne Welch
Organizer, Blue Mountains Climate Compensation Fund