Val Schier - Mayor, Cairns Regional Council

In Part 3 of our climate change special we speak with Val Schier to find out what Council are doing at a local level to mitigate against the possibility of catastrophic climate change.

"We've spent this term $188 million on upgrading four of our sewage treatment plants, so that the nutrients that come from those plants are not going to damage the reef.

"We're trying to control sediment washing into rivers and illegal dumping.

"We're looking at our wetlands and ensuring they're really healthy. Catana Wetlands actually filters runoff from sugar cane farms.

"It (climate change) is a global issue but the thing is you've got to think globally and act locally. That's what we've been doing to try and reduce greenhouse gases. We just hope other places around the nation do similarly.

"We've got the International Coral Reef Symposium happening here next year. I think at that symposium they'll probably be able to demonstrate that the Great Barrier Reef is actually the best managed coral reefs in the world.

"All we can do is look at what we can do locally to ensure we're not contributing towards it (climate change).

"We're not frightened about it, but we're trying to find out what financial repercussions it will have on Council. We're probably just looking at being more efficient with our resources.

"With Advance Cairns we're refocusing on renewable energy. Council is also looking at capturing methane gas from the Portsmith landfill and generating electricity.

"We've also recently put in for a grant to investigate using the Copperlode Dam to generate hydroelectricity.

"We set out a vision to be the greenest council in the nation, and we've started way behind the eight-ball. Douglas Shire were very good at what they were doing and we've picked up on alot of that and taken it further.

"The Federal Government has definitely indicated that it is prepared to be proactive, and I think we as councils need to look at how we can be proactive as well.

"You can't just sit around and wait for someone else to do something.

"We'll do everything we can to make sure those predictions (of damage to the Great Barrier Reef) don't come true."

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