BY REFUSING to commit to credible emissions reductions and to act on climate change, the Federal Government has resigned Australia to trying to cope with worsening bushfires with one arm tied behind its back, Emergency Leaders for Climate Action (ELCA) says.
“The Federal Government has responded to some recommendations that give it more powers, evaded others such as developing Australia’s large aerial firefighting capability, but steadfastly refuses to tackle what the Royal Commission detailed as being the root cause of why extreme weather is worsening in the first place,” said Greg Mullins, former Commissioner of Fire and Rescue NSW and founder of ELCA.
“On a day when the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO reinforced the Royal Commission’s stark warning that increasing emissions will lead to even worse disasters, and after bushfire inquiries in NSW, Victoria and South Australia all detailed the impacts of climate on worsening weather and fires, the Federal Government has again turned a blind eye to the urgent need for climate action.
“All the new agencies and legislative powers in the world won’t stop climate-driven extreme weather events from worsening. We have to take the pot off the boil, and get to net zero emissions as quickly as possible, just as every state and territory and many of our international partners have committed to do.
“The Bushfire Royal Commission’s report left no doubt that climate change inaction will continue to make fires and other disasters worse and clearly laid out the costs of inaction in terms of lives, property losses, and economic impacts.
“But this government continues to refuse to take meaningful action on climate change while peddling empty rhetoric about possible costs of reducing emissions. The costs of inaction will increasingly be counted in lives lost. There are huge opportunities for Australia in a zero carbon world, yet Canberra continues to back coal, oil, and gas, the key drivers of climate change, while our major trading partners are retreating from it.
“The Royal Commission detailed how fire and other risks will continue to worsen for 20-30 years. If there is no strong action on emissions now, things will become even worse after that. The renewable energy solutions that will reduce emissions will not only make our climate safer, they will deliver lower energy bills, more resilient communities, and thousands of jobs,” said Mr Mullins.
