Welcome to 2020 - We Changed Our Name

As of 1 January 2020, BCCAG’s name has changed to Bayside Climate Crisis Action Group. Note the initials BCCAG remain the same. This change is in accordance with a directive to the Board that was voted on at the 2019 AGM to reflect the current climate emergency we face.

Message from The Board

The year 2020 which is upon us, throws up daunting challenges to all of us who are worried about the future path of human society and our environment, in the face of climate breakdown.  The current bushfires with their unprecedented land coverage Australia wide and the tragic loss of human life and property as well as wildlife and their habitat is only the latest evidence of the crisis we face.  Without rapid and far-reaching changes to our wasteful, fossil burning society, it can only get worse.

Last year we led a successful campaign to have Bayside Council declare a climate emergency. Local Government is the closest tier of Government to the community so having them on our side helps build our strength and determination. As we savoured the joy of that success after the vote, we knew that this was just the first hurdle successfully leaped in a marathon of hurdles still to overcome. Whilst the contribution of local government to this challenge can be significant and meaningful, we do need a whole of government approach to the problem.

We in BCCAG are well aware that the climate crisis has now caught the attention of many community groups and many individuals beyond our combined ranks. All of us need to work together on this common goal because that way, we can multiply our effectiveness locally, in bringing about the rapid and far-reaching changes we so urgently need to reverse global heating and return to a safe climate.

That is why we have decided to build a new network of community groups to take on the challenge together. Many of those groups joined us to win over Council to declaring a climate emergency. The new network might be called the Bayside Emergency Climate Action Network, or BECAN.
BECAN will be holding its inaugural meeting on the 10th February. If you have contact with another community group that you think might want to join BECAN, please let us know by contacting David Rothfield on 0418 523 322 and we will send them an invitation.