Climate Action Merribek: people in Brunswick, Coburg, Fawkner and Glenroy wanting action on climate change

Hey Melbourne – Time to Rise for Climate on September 7

August 21, 2018 at 1:09 am John Englart 2 comments

Climate Emergency

On September 7 and 8, thousands of rallies will be held in cities and towns around the world to demand our local leaders commit to building a fossil free world that works for all of us.

Join us as we hold our local leaders to account and demand that they walk the talk on climate action.

One of those events will be at the State Library in Melbourne at 6pm on Friday September 7. Join members of Climate Action Moreland and other climate activists in global solidarity calling for strong climate action.

In Australia events are being co-ordinated by 350 Australia.

Rather than hold a small event in Moreland we are throwing our support behind the City of Melbourne event at the State LIbrary.

Where: State Library, Melbourne
When: 6pm Friday, September 7, 2018
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/242220166496545/

Other events in Victoria:

• Sat 8 September 10am-5pm – Rise for Climate #PacificPawa in Laverton
• Sat 8 September 10am-12.15pm – Rise for Climate Bulleen-Doncaster
• Sat 8 September 2pm-3.30pm – Rise for Climate Frankston
• Sat 8 September 10.30am-12noon – Rise for Climate Maroondah Hwy
• Sat 8 September 10.30am at Traralgon Rise for Climate Latrobe City

Californian Governor Jerry Brown has invited world leaders, presidents, governors and mayors to a Global Climate Summit in San Fransisco from 12-14 September to “Take Ambition to the Next Level.”

The summit follows on from record July temperatures in many northern hemisphere locations with extraordinary wildfires in USA, Canada, Sweden and Greece. Extraordinarily, NSW and Victoria also experienced dozens of bushfires, and it was the middle of winter. Climate scientists published an important literature review essay on the dangers and risks of exceeding the Paris temperature targets of 1.5 Celsius and two degrees celsius of global warming in tipping earth’s climate into a hothouse state. (PNAS – Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene).

One of the lead authors of this study, Australian climate scientist and a Councillor for the Climate Council said in an interview with the Intercept that we need to move to a ‘war-time footing’ for climate action, to junk neoliberal economics and impose regulation for a rapid and sustained shift to renewables and low carbon economy

“I would say regulation every time: throw people in jail, fine them, do whatever you need to do. But make sure you get the biophysical outcome. From what I’ve seen, market mechanisms don’t always deliver that.” Will Steffen told the Intercept.

Steffen is far from the only climate scientist to speak out saying it is crunch time and we need to step up.

Read German Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber forward to the latest report by David Spratt and Ian Dunlop from the Breakthrough Institute: What Lies beneath.

“Climate change is now reaching the end-game, where very soon humanity must choose between taking unprecedented action, or accepting that it has been left too late and bear the consequences.” says Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, head of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, according to David Spratt’s Climate Code Red Blog

The Rise for Climate statement demands:

Our local leaders commit to building a fossil free world that puts people and justice before profits.

No more stalling, no more delays: it’s time for a fast and fair transition to 100% renewable energy for all.

Real climate leadership rises from below. It means power in the hands of people not corporations. It means economic opportunity for workers and justice and dignity for frontline communities that are the hardest hit by the impacts of the fossil fuel industry and a warming world.

This September, cities, states, businesses and civil society from around the world are gathering in California for the Global Climate Action Summit.

The Summit has invited every mayor, governor, and local leader in the world to make a bold climate commitment to help the world reach the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

We know what those commitments need to achieve: a fast, fair and just transition to 100% renewable energy and an immediate end to new fossil fuel projects.

Plan or join an event in your community. If your elected officials commit, your rally can be a celebration. If they fail to act, it’s a chance to hold them accountable.

We are at a crossroads. By acting together, we can end the era of fossil fuels and save the climate we all depend on.

Criticism of Governor Jerry Brown’s climate leadership

While Jerry Brown has done many positive things for the energy transition in California and is widely seen in diplomatic circles as a ‘Green leader’, he is also strongly criticised for oil drilling in California and for championing fracking that is damaging and contaminating groundwater acquifers. There is also a strong equity and class issue with Analysis revealing: Most Oil Wells Approved by Gov. Brown Are in Low-income Areas, Communities of Color. Read environmental journalist Dan Bacher’s 2017 article on Behind Jerry Brown’s green facade lurks dirty oil and environmental injustice.

A report published November 2017 during the UN climate change conference at Bonn, COP23, highlighted that California’s Oil was among the World’s Dirtiest, with Rampant Oil Production Undermining the State’s Climate Leadership. (Oil Stain: How Dirty Crude Undercuts California’s Climate Progress – PDF)

“California is tarnishing its climate leadership by encouraging oil companies to extract millions of barrels a year of some of the planet’s dirtiest crude,” said report author Shaye Wolf, the Center’s climate science director in a media release. “Our state’s huge reserve of dirty crude is a loaded gun pointed at our future. We can’t let the oil industry pull the trigger.”

Entry filed under: 350.org, climate change info, Climate Emergency, news, rallies & protests.