Debbie Denison
On Wednesday 10th February, Charlotte Taylor - Operation & Business Development Manager for EarthCheck, handed down their final report for Magnetic Island on the decarbonisation of Great Barrier Reef Islands, at a MIDCA hosted meeting.
Due to travel restrictions Charlotte was unable to attend the meeting and presentation was done by video link. 22 residents were in attendance, unfortunately audio issues plagued the presentation.
The project was supported by the Queensland Government, who made a $1.73 million election commitment in 2017 to assist Great Barrier Reef islands transition to a low or zero carbon future and become more resilient to climate change.
The project focused on five key areas at a whole of community level; energy, water, waste, transport and resilience.
The Magnetic Island project began in 2019. Three information sessions and workshops - and 2 online surveys formed the community component of the project.
186 of the island’s 2,335 residents and 28 of the island’s 211 businesses responded to the online surveys.
A final 18 project business options to decarbonise Magnetic Island were decided - the full report can be read here go to:
Over view - with less than 9% of island population choosing to complete the survey - the survey is not representative of our island community.
None of the 18 project business options have been funded.
In this current economic climate and during a world wide pandemic, just how much funding for any of these projects is available?
Will this report have any benefit for Magnetic Island?
The project was developed by:
EarthCheck
Regional Economic Solutions
Arup
Queensland Tourism Industry Council