His assessment is correct. Across much of the state two weeks ago,with the memory of devastating floods in northern NSW still front of mind,voters left damp and mouldy houses and stood in rain to get their chance to vote for more ambitious climate action.
Chris Bowen listens to Greg Mullins at a press conference on Thursday.James Brickwood
And vote for it they did. The teal independents have swept into parliament on a wave of concern about climate change and inflicted grievous damage upon the Liberal Party in the process,taking six of their seats. The Greens took two as well from the Liberal National Party in Queensland,just for good measure.
The new Labor government has a clear mandate to pursue a goal of 43 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. It claims it can do this through investment in renewable energy,which will also cut power bills and create jobs,mostly in regional areas.
The goal is better than the timid offering Scott Morrison took to the United Nations Climate summit in Glasgow last year,to the frustration of other world leaders – a target of 30-35 per cent reduction by 2030,secured only after furious negotiation with a reluctant Nationals leader,Barnaby Joyce.
for Bowen to front his first press conference as minister with Mullins by his side,given Mullins now leads Emergency Leaders for Climate Action. This is a group which has its origins in the Climate Commission,an advisory body the Liberal government disbanded as one of its first acts after winning power in 2013.
By inviting Mullins to stand beside him,Bowen was making it known that climate change action would be a priority for his government. But Labor’s stated goal is not big enough to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees this century,according to scientists,.
As a nation,we need to support more ambitious action on climate change – for the mental and physical health of our own children,as well as for the planet. As Caitlin Fitzsimmons a new report from UNICEF,the United Nations Children’s Fund,shows that 82 per cent of Australians aged 16 to 25 have some level of climate anxiety and 43 per cent are hesitant about having children in the future because of their concerns about the warming climate.
This is deeply concerning and demands action from all of us. Responsibility for reducing carbon emissions does not rest solely on those who hold political power. Australia has some of the highest consumption rates in the world,according to the report. If everyone in the world lived like the average Australian,we would need 4.6 planet Earths to sustain that level of resource consumption.
Some of the simplest things households can do to reduce Australia’s footprint are to serve up more vegetables,beans and grains,rather than meat;to walk whenever possible,rather than drive,and to think twice before buying something new.
The Lebanese writer Khalil Gibran children are “the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself”. The line lingers in the mind when you read the UNICEF report. Perhaps the fears of Australia’s young people – fears that in many ways are for life itself – are an extension of this sentiment. And perhaps,if older Australians worried about global warming as much as their children,and acted upon those fears,it would lessen the mental and environmental load for the next generation. Today is World Environment Day. It’s a good place to start.
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