Push for sustainable future

The News is running a series of interviews with community leaders about their views on climate change.

We asked four questions:

1: What is your position on global warming and climate change?

2: Are we doing enough to mitigate the impact of climate change in the region?

3: Do community and business leaders have a role in advocating for more action, and positioning our region to take advantage of emerging opportunities?

4: What is your number one priority to help mitigate the impacts of climate change? Today we feature the responses of Shepparton-based Legislative Council Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell.

Wendy Lovell.

What is your position?

The world’s climate has always changed — the history of the Earth tells us that and that is why we have had ice ages and ice melts. However, I believe that we all need to accept that our climate is now changing more rapidly due to human activity and I accept the scientific evidence that supports this.

Are we doing enough to mitigate the impact of climate change in the region?

The short answer is we could do more but climate change can’t be solved in one region alone. This is a global problem that needs global action.

Governments and industry will have to do more but they also need to act in a responsible manner that doesn’t cause significant hardship and unintended consequences.

For example: industry just packing up and moving to another country, that doesn’t address their responsibilities; or causing power prices to rise to the extent that lower-income households can’t afford.

There is also an onus on all of us as individuals to ensure we reduce our environmental and carbon footprint. We have become a consumer-driven, disposable society and over the past 50 years we have gone from small homes housing large families to extremely large homes that house fewer people but are fully airconditioned and centrally heated. We have numerous cars, TVs and mobile phones and a household’s carbon footprint is now much larger than what it was 50 years ago, let alone a century ago. Governments can assist individuals to reduce their carbon footprint through the provision of, for example, more public transport, but we also need to ask ourselves — what can we as individuals do to assist?

Do community and business leaders have a role in advocating for more action to combat climate change impacts?

Our community leaders have an obligation to advocate for the best outcomes for our region, and that means ensuring we can move to a more sustainable future while limiting the impact and risks it may have on our economy and liveability.

The rest of the population will always look to the leaders to provide solutions and lead by example, and I see that leadership happening in our region now. We have already seen our industries investing in better technology and more sustainable practices.

A good example is our irrigation industry, which has invested in better technology with solar power, and our irrigators, who have invested in irrigation practices that use less water. The recent expansion of solar facilities throughout the district shows that our region is taking advantage of emerging opportunities and also demonstrates a commitment to renewable energy and sustainability.

What is your number one priority?

The first thing that needs to happen is to move the discussion away from the current extremes of ‘Climate Change Deniers’ and ‘Climate Change Alarmists’ to ensure we can achieve an informed plan that will lead to a more sustainable future.

Other than that, investment in education and science to guarantee we are constantly producing better evidence and technology to ensure we make the right choices that produce the biggest gains in addressing climate change and our future sustainability.

However, one thing we could do immediately is to adopt the Victorian Liberal Party’s ‘Zero to Landfill’ waste-to-energy policy, which is based on technology that has already been successfully implemented in central Paris, Amsterdam, Germany and Singapore. This technology, along with reforms to recycling, would allow us to achieve zero waste going to landfill by 2035 and produce a reliable low-emission baseload energy supply to help meet Victoria’s growing needs and reduce reliance on high-emission fossil fuel-based energy production.

I BELIEVE THAT WE ALL NEED TO ACCEPT THAT OUR CLIMATE IS NOW CHANGING MORE RAPIDLY DUE TO HUMAN ACTIVITY AND I ACCEPT THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE THAT SUPPORTS THIS. — WENDY LOVELL

Story by John Lewis from The Shepparton News - “Push for sustainable future.”

Focusing on how individuals can stop climate change is very convenient for corporations

What can be done to limit global warming to 1.5°C? A quick internet search offers a deluge of advice on how individuals can change their behavior. Take public transport instead of the car or, for longer journeys, the train rather than fly. Eat less meat and more vegetables, pulses and grains, and don’t forget to turn off the light when leaving a room or the water when shampooing. The implication here is that the impetus for addressing climate change is on individual consumers.

id

Pressure is on individuals to change their behaviour, but
the real difference can be made by the corporations. 

But can and should it really be the responsibility of individuals to limit global warming? On the face of it, we all contribute to global warming through the cumulative impact of our actions.

By changing consumption patterns on a large scale we might be able to influence companies to change their production patterns to more sustainable methods. Some experts have argued that everyone (or at least those who can afford it) has a responsibility to limit global warming, even if each individual action is insufficient in itself to make a difference.

Read the story from Fast Company by Morton Fibieger Byskov - “Focusing on how individuals can stop climate change is very convenient for corporations."

Reading classic novels in an era of climate change.

Philip Steer.

There is a strange and troubled kind of intimacy between our own moment of climate change and 19th century Britain. It was there that a global, fossil fuel economy first took shape, through its coal-powered factories, railways, and steamships, which drove the emergence of modern consumer capitalism.

What might we now find if we look again at the literature of the 19th century? Although Victorian writers lacked our understanding of a warming planet, we can learn from their deep awareness of the rapid and far-reaching ways that their society was changing. In their hands, the novel became a powerful tool for thinking about the interconnections between individuals, society, economics, and the natural world.

Read the thoughts The Conversation of a Senior Lecturer in English at Massey University, Philip Steer - “Reading classic novels in an era of climate change.”

DiCaprio drops any facade when it comes to climate change

L

eonardo DiCaprio is a professional “pretender”.

Leonardo DiCapriod - doesn't
pretend  about climate change.

However the American actor was not pretending when he spoke to the United Nations summit on climate change in 2014.

DiCaprio, both an actor and environmental activist addressed the UN summit meeting on climate change.

DiCaprio, who has been named a United Nations Messenger of Peace, said: “This disaster has grown beyond the choices that individuals make. This is now about our industries, and governments.”

Watch The Guardian video - “Leonardo DiCaprio speaks at UN climate change summit - video”