Is declaring a climate emergency such a good idea?

The Greens’ parliamentary motion this week asking Parliament to declare a “climate emergency” makes perfect sense as a political manoeuvre. It reinforces the Greens’ unambiguous position on the matter.

Illustration: Andrew Dyson

It wedges Labor, which is now so rent by its pro-climate-but-also-pro-coal message that it couldn’t even articulate a position on the “emergency” question.

And it provides another rhetorical barb to throw at the Morrison government, which this week revealed it had a Minister for Natural Disaster Management who – in the face of unseasonal fires raging in NSW and Queensland – simply doesn’t know and doesn’t even care about the role that climate change might be playing in causing such things. Meanwhile, Australia’s emissions continue to rise.

Read the story from The Age by Waleed Aly - “Is declaring a climate emergency such a good idea?”