Shepparton groups join others throughout the state to demand government action on climate change

A submission to the Victorian State Government calling for action on climate change has won the support of two Shepparton-based groups.

Climate change activist, Melbourne's
Carol Ride from Psychology for
a Safe Climate.

Beneath the Wisteria and Slap Tomorrow have joined eight other groups to back an eight-page submission that responds to a Victorian Government call for comment about creating a “Climate Change Framework and vision for a climate-ready Victoria”.

Convenor of Melbourne’s Psychology for a Safe Climate, Carol Ride, and a member of the Victorian Climate Action Network, Jane Morton, who are also both members of Darebin Climate Action Now, wrote the submission.

Groups from throughout Melbourne, including CLIMARTE and Lighter Footprints along with the Wodonga Albury Towards Climate Health (WATCH) body have also supported the submission.

The document explains that the world has zero budget left; zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 is inadequate; the earth is already too hot and agreements reached in Paris in December to hold global warming at two degrees or less above pre-industrial levels is not safe; and accepted carbon budgets underestimate the risks.

A target of zero emissions within 10 years is called for and in explaining that the truth about climate change is “so difficult to tell”, the submission calls for bold political leadership and an informed stance that will alert policy makers and the public about the need for emergency action.

In conclusion the submission says: “We ask you to have courage and spell out in clear and evocative language both the unspeakable risks we face and the inspiring opportunities that arise from transition to a zero emissions society.

“We ask you to immediately begin on the path of the bold and transformative action we need.

“We ask you to provide the kind of leadership required at this pivotal point in history,” the submission says.

It concludes by quoting the author of 2008 Garnaut Climate Change Review, Ross Garnaut, who said: “Failure to act now will haunt us until the end of time”.

(Apology: At the time this was written, I was unaware that one of Melbourne’s leading climate activists and co-author of “Climate Code Red”, David Spratt, had made a significant contribution to this submission. Knowing that, it’s obvious as his fingerprints are all over it – Robert McLean.)