On 7 October 2020, the Daring Cities 2020 Global Forum hosted an opening plenary. The Mayor of Byron Shire Council, Simon Richardson, submitted this video for the plenary.

Transcript

Hi everyone, my name is Simon Richardson. I am the Mayor of Byron Shire. I thank all the organisers for being daring to put on the Daring Cities 2020 gathering. Byron Shire is in the North of Northern NSW. We are the most easterly point of Australia. Byron Shire is small in size and population but we are large in our audacity and our daring. With a population of only 34,000 we welcome 2.4 million visitors per year. The reason they come is for our environment. From our wonderful marine parks, to our pristine rainforests it is the environment that is the drawcard.

Visitors come here because we as a community dare to put our environment first. I am not telling anyone listening anything new by saying that tackling climate change can sometimes feel like an insurmountable challenge but it is one we can conquer. If every Council, every community committed themselves to acting, to reverse the effects of climate change we as a society would be doing a wonderful thing.

In Byron we love to surf, and really when it comes to it tackling climate change is like deciding whether to get on that wave or not. For those communities, those councils, those governments that decide to paddle out and get on that wave, all the great benefits and experiences from being early on tackling climate change are there for us.

For those of us who are slow we simply water tread and watch others head to the beach. This is our challenge. Early adopting, ride the waves of opportunity and be part of the solution.

We in Byron acknowledge climate action is required by all of us, and our community expects nothing less. As of last month there were over 1700 jurisdictions around the world to put their hands up to acknowledge what is obvious. We are in a climate emergency and we need to act accordingly.

For us in Byron and no doubt all of you who are listening here, we acknowledge we have to be daring to take on climate change. I’m proud to be the Mayor of Byron Shire, a daring community, committed to being part of the solution, riding that wave and to create benefits for our kids.

We are daring to become Australia’s first home of a bioenergy plant. We are well on the way to achieving this and hopefully by next year it will be in operation.

We are well on our way to creating a 5 megawatt solar farm. We will reach our 100% renewable targets – years early.

We will reach our zero emissions targets early. Because we are daring enough and our community expects it. The answers are there if we are willing to ask the right questions.

I’m proud to be the Mayor of a community that is small in numbers, but huge in its daring. We want to create local solutions to global problems. We like to work alongside any community, from all over the world. All of us who are gathering here from all over the world to be part of the solution.

Thanks to the organisers, thank you all for doing your bit, wherever you are. For us in our patch, in our small part of the world our environment is key and it is a great place to be.