1 week Ago By Phebe Fidge
It’s 1987. Newsstands are abuzz with the latest on the Cold War. Ladies with huge hair gossip over West Coast Coolers as joggers tread past with George Michael blaring from their Discman.
With the tense geopolitical climate and crumbling stock markets, it’s a wonder anyone had time to even think about the environment. However, from despair comes hope, and a hunger for change. The Brundtland Report, also known as , was the first public recognition of the environmental limits on economic growth.
It called for global partnerships to address environmental issues, bringing climate change to the forefront of global discussions. If the policies to follow had been effective in achieving their aims of minimising damage from climate change and rising sea levels, then perhaps we would be living in a very different world today. Ecosystems like wetlands and rainforests are still in decline, and a third of the Earth’s species are at risk of extinction.
At the current rate of global warming, we risk surpassing five “tipping points”, which would lead to runaway change in natural systems. As arctic permafrosts thaw and rainforests break down into savannas, the Greenhouse Effect will be augmented by methane and carbon dioxide emissions, which threaten life on earth as we know it. We are hurtling towards a startlingly uncommon future.
Extreme weather events like the 2019 Central Coast wildfires are happening more frequently than any other time in recorded history. Through developments in scientific understanding, we are only just beginning to realise the gravity of our inaction. Some models have indicated that climate change is likely to be far worse than predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which already anticipates the mean global temperature to increase by at least 2°C by the end of this century.
With new research pointing to saturation of trees under current levels of atmospheric carbon, reduced carbon capture by forests may mean our greatest shield against climate change is thinning. Like it or not, we are citizens of a global community and, together, we are not doing enough to stop the climate crisis. The most recent emissions gap report published by the United Nations Environment Programme concluded that even if all nationally determined contributions are met, we are currently tracking towards a 2.
6 – 3.1°C increase in the average global temperature before 2100. That’s way beyond the first goal of the Paris Agreement and would have devastating consequences for nature, people, and economies.
Many Australians dismiss our responsibility to be proactive while other nations like the US and China continue business as usual. While I can sympathise with this view, as a developed nation abundant in natural resources, we have a unique opportunity to demonstrate leadership and generate momentum for global change, the same way New Zealand responded to women’s suffrage in 1893 and forced women and the vote into a new political sphere. Also, while Australia’s proportional contributions to climate change are minimal (1.
08%), our hands are far from clean. This contribution more than triples (to 3.4%) when we account for consumption of our fossil fuel exports, and our per capita emissions are the twelfth largest in the world, with the average person contributing 14.
5 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year. This means even slight adjustments in the Australian lifestyle could have a huge impact on our nation’s carbon footprint. On top of this, Australia will be disproportionately affected by climate change with large areas of mainland Australia expected to experience significant decreases in rainfall, leading to widespread aridification, threatening water security and agricultural production.
Meanwhile, frequent wildfires, heatwaves, floods and droughts as well as the spread of climate-sensitive infectious diseases (like Ross River virus and Dengue fever) will become substantial public health risks, with disadvantaged Indigenous communities especially vulnerable. Therefore, as global citizens with huge carbon footprints, and so much at stake, Australians must seize the opportunity for stronger climate action. Right now, we are headed in the wrong direction.
It is time for us to turn around and confront climate change and what it means for us. The reality is this. Our future is bleak if Australian governments continue to accept and encourage disunity, fear, and sabotage of progressive climate action.
Human beings are at odds with each other and with their environment. We appear to be losing an altruistic bond central to our evolution as a species, which encouraged social transmission and cooperation that shaped our genetics and cultural behaviours over many generations. This is being exacerbated by political polarisation, with social conflicts emerging from divergent perceptions of environmental issues.
For example, our major political parties are currently using their proposed national climate change mitigation strategies to divide the vote. This will inevitably derail honest and productive discussions that contribute to effective environmental decision-making. Climate change is a collective action problem, which is a problem that arises when individualism conflicts with the well-being of a group.
The science on climate change is sound, and the solution is clear. In its latest GenCost report, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) states that, “neither type of nuclear generation can be operational by 2030”. Considering Australia is committed to achieving a 43% reduction in emissions by 2030, evidence-based decision-making would favour investment in viable and scalable renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines and photovoltaic solar.
Australia’s two major parties must unify their approach to meet national and international emissions reduction obligations. Unifying discourse on climate issues will rely not only on a unified approach, but also on disbanding a deeply ingrained conviction of human supremacy over nature. In our conquest of natural systems, we forget that like wallabies and lorikeets, we too are animals interacting with our environment.
Not all our interactions have to be negative! Indigenous Knowledge Systems have taught us the importance of reciprocity, which is a concept as scientific as it is spiritual. There is evidence from North America to show that traditional sweetgrass ( ) harvested by the Potawatomi people improved plant condition compared to unharvested plots. In Australia, cultural burning practices have been shown to increase fruit production in desert raisins ( ).
In the modern day, reciprocity means restoring degraded ecosystems and the services they once provided. It means taking only what we need from the ground and sea. Perhaps it also means a state of mindfulness that inspires awe and respect, similar to worship.
We must reconnect with nature, because climate justice hinges on a cultural shift in the way that we see and interact with the natural world. The severe ecological risks associated with manmade climate change have inspired fear in many environmental scientists, young people, and disaster-affected Australians. This has triggered a unique psychological phenomenon known as “eco-anxiety”, which leaves victims overwhelmed by feelings of stress and powerlessness.
It is defined by paralysis and inaction, making it a major barrier to positive climate action. Clinical psychology focuses on the pathologisation of individuals and is not well-equipped to deal with place-based threats. However, this will need to change, with over 67% of young Australians already affected by eco-anxiety.
Facilitating youth participation in nature-based solutions and climate action is also a promising solution, especially through empowering social media engagement. The government has a role to play in responding to eco-anxiety with psychological support for disaster victims and youth as well as support for community projects like “ .” The Albanese government has systemically sabotaged climate action through its commitment to fossil fuel companies, which were issued $14.
5 billion in subsidies in the 2023-24 financial year, up 31% from 2022-2023. Market-based schemes that could have relinquished the financial stronghold these companies hold over Australian politics have historically been met with such resistance that The Guardian’s Lenore Taylor once referred to the carbon tax as the “killing fields” of Australian politics. The federal government also has a role to play in protecting the Australian public from misinformation.
An analysis of fossil fuel sector media coverage and press releases from 2008 – 2019 showed how deliberately vague language, downplaying domestic carbon emissions, and a moral stance – strategically contrasted with more radical environmental agendas – were used to diffuse climate concerns in a criminal act of “predatory delay”. More recently, misinformation propagated by offshore wind opposition groups in the United States worked their way into the Australian discourse and were amplified by some politicians. It is easy to blame government inaction on our politicians in Canberra.
However, we are guilty of accepting the way things are instead of working together to demand more from our country’s leadership. Let’s start by asking some ‘common sense’ questions. Why do our politicians continue to understate the importance of climate action? Why is Australia incapable of setting ambitious emissions reduction targets that align with IPCC recommendations? A fair approach would necessitate a 62% reduction in emissions compared to the 43% promised, by 2030.
Lastly, why do we, as a nation, continue to subsidise fossil fuels while avoiding investment in renewable energy infrastructure that will facilitate the net-zero transition? We are not acting in our own self-interest, and it has to do with the way we think. Let’s acknowledge the illusions of understanding and validity that have led to overconfidence in individual viewpoints. This will enable us to expand our perspective through critical systems thinking, which is characterised by flexibility and pluralism.
It involves understanding an issue’s complexity and stakeholder conflicts to diverge holistic and ethical solutions. We also need to start thinking about the long-term consequences of our actions (or inaction). Our brains are not designed to think about the future, with reward circuits strengthened by immediate gratification and our amygdala hyper-alert to present threats.
By focusing on prospective imagery, we can strengthen delayed gratification. This is why climate storytelling like is so compelling. We can also learn to engage the pre-frontal cortex to better regulate our emotions and focus our attention.
These adaptations in the way we think would make us more cooperative allies in the fight against climate change. While we wait for human evolution to take course, we need to make sure the government knows that Australians will prioritise climate action when voting in the 2025 federal election. Like in 1987, change is in the air.
Though our hair is smaller, and we’re singing instead of , the cost of living means we too are in financial freefall. The concurrent reigns of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Donald Trump are destabilising global politics, and Australians are afraid of China. It is yet again time to change course as we forge into the 21 century.
What will our “common future” be? – Share this article on social media to raise awareness of Australia’s role in mitigating against climate change. – Advocate for climate action during this year’s federal election. Sign a to vote for climate and nature that will notify your local candidates.
You can also support independent political candidates committed to a science-based response to the climate crisis through the crowd-funded initiative. – Help mobilise your community to promote largescale investment in renewable energy and to oppose new coal, oil and gas projects. You can start by getting in touch with your local branch and joining the campaign.
You can also support charities like , who are working to upskill workers in the energy sector to take advantage of emerging renewable energy industries. – Amplify youth voices, because they will inherit the future. You can donate to youth-run organisations like the or .
You can also sponsor youth delegates to attend international negotiations on nature and the climate through crowdfunding initiatives like this one from . If you are a young person (under 35), have your say on and policy issues. You can also apply for that build youth capacity and support attendance of international forums.
– Educate yourself and others for more thoughtful participation in the democratic process. To learn more about our major parties’ policies on the environment and other issues, check out this excellent . To learn about the science on climate change, check out the latest .
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