Well done council on climate call

The Greater Shepparton City Council must be congratulated on the declaration of a climate emergency. All councillors present at the March meeting were united in the view that our council must continue with strong and decisive action on reducing emissions to address climate change.

However, several councillors struggled with the words ‘climate emergency’ and drew a distinction between the COVID-19 ‘emergency’ and the ‘climate emergency’. However, there are similarities between COVID-19 and climate change and how we need to respond.

It is clear to all that the COVID-19 pandemic is an emergency. The science is complicated but the advice is clear. Unless we take decisive early action there will be a doubling in disease contraction every week and our health systems will be overwhelmed.

Governments have heeded this advice and taken decisive action. This early action has placed Australia in a far better position than many other nations around the globe.

The climate change emergency is no different. The science is complicated but the advice is clear. Carbon emissions are irreversibly warming our planet. Many climate-related events we are witnessing are not normal.

We are seeing unprecedented droughts, bushfires, coral bleaching and cyclones with just the 1°C increase in global temperature measured to date.

It is inevitable we will see a further increase in global temperature to between 1.5-2°C even if Paris carbon reduction targets are met.

A further doubling of the temperature increase to 4°C by the end of the century is possible if there is no action to reduce carbon emissions. A 2°C temperature increase will present many challenges. A 4°C increase in temperature may be more than we can adapt to.

The Paris agreement is about flattening the curve so we can limit temperature increase to no more than 2°C.

Climate change is an emergency. Our council serves us well by adding its voice in joining the 84 councils around Australia and 1482 jurisdictions across the world that have now declared a climate emergency.

All levels of government need to heed the science and take urgent early action to limit global emissions of carbon in the same way we have responded to COVID-19.

A letter to The Shepparton News Editor from Derek Poulton on behalf of Slap Tomorrow.