Dear Scomo 2

So, I never got an answer to my last Dear Scomo letter.  So instead of waiting forever, I wrote him another one.

Dear Prime MinisterJon

I am still awaiting your reply to my letter of 14 June, but I thought that I would write to you again given that events have moved on since then.

Back in June I wrote asking you to lead your government into a more positive engagement with the issue of climate change.  I suggested you needed to move Australia towards more willing and enthusiastic participation in global mitigation efforts, planning for our economic transition to net zero emissions and getting serious about adaptation.

While you have not replied to my letter the actions of your government since then have left me with little confidence you are getting to grips with this important issue, despite your reassuring words.

• You have repeatedly assured Australians that we are well on track to meeting our 2030 emissions reduction targets.  Yet official government data continues to show increases in our emissions.  This makes it very difficult to believe your assurances.
• At the Pacific Islands Forum in August, despite earnest pleas from our regional friends, you refused to agree to a strong regional statement or to commit to any further action beyond Australia’s current settings.
• During last week’s UN climate summit, despite being in the same city, you prioritised visits to factories and retail outlets over this important global forum, and in your subsequent speech to the UN once again reiterated your intention to keep our policies as they are.

So I guess I have my answer.  However, I remain hopeful that you and your colleagues will eventually see sense on this issue, so here is my follow up plea to you. 

As you can see from my header I live in Brisbane.  For the past three weeks, whenever the wind has blown from the west I can smell smoke.  Following a record hot and dry winter we have bushfires in South-East Queensland which our fire authorities have described as ‘unprecedented’.  This is Queensland’s second set of unprecedented bushfires this year, after fires in summer damaged rainforest in Central Queensland which has never had fires before.  This is what climate change does – it makes our continent hotter and drier, increasing our exposure to these types of events.  We are seeing similar changes around the world.  Climate change is already under way.

In the lead-up to the climate summit last week the World Meteorological Association released a summary of climate trends since 2015.  These show global emissions continuing to rise, global temperature records continuing to tumble, an accelerated loss of polar ice, increase in sea levels and increased ocean acidification.  It is clear that we all need to do more than utter reassuring words.

Your response to this issue since the election has been that you need to prioritise a strong economy.  I agree that a strong economy is important but fail to see how the two issues are in opposition.  Climate change has a huge negative impact on our economy.  This is not something in the distant future, we are starting to see the impacts already. For instance:

• Our drying climate reduces agricultural output and productivity, with flow-on effects through our regional communities.
• More frequent fires, storms and floods place strain on our emergency services and soak up resources in rebuilding.  They also push up insurance premiums for everyone, and directly cause job losses as people’s businesses are destroyed.
• Increased coral bleaching, driven in part by warming and acidification of the ocean, damages reef tourism.

This is just a small taste of what we will see if climate change continues unchecked.  We will see deeper droughts, more intense storms and heatwaves, and increases in sea level which will make some places uninhabitable. The impacts are far from offset by the few hundred jobs that result from the opening of a new coal mine, particularly when it is mining and burning coal and other fossil fuels that is accelerating the damage.

Nonetheless I continue to have hope.  On September 20 I attended the Global Climate Strike here in Brisbane and was heartened by the large turnout of people from all walks of life, including members of my church.  Over 300,000 people rallied that day around the country, protesting peacefully in a spirit of goodwill and cooperation.

I know this is a small proportion of Australia’s population, but you will be aware that the Australia Institute recently released its latest Climate of the Nation survey. It shows, among other things, that:

• 81% of Australians are concerned that climate change will result in more droughts and flooding
• 78% of Australians are concerned climate change will lead to water shortages in our cities, up eleven percentage points in the past two years
• 64% of Australians think Australia should have a national target for net zero emissions by 2050 (15% think it shouldn’t).
• 54% of Australians reject the idea that Australia should not act on climate change until other major emitters like the US and China do.
• 62% of Australians support a levy on fossil fuel exports to help fund local adaptation to climate change.

Stronger action on climate change is something a substantial majority of Australians support, certain noisy media voices notwithstanding.  You have a chance now to fulfil our desires and truly represent us on the global stage.

As you know, the Paris Accord involved countries agreeing to the overall goal of limited global warming to 1.5-2 degrees, while leaving countries free to set their own emissions reduction targets.  It was clear that the initial targets were insufficient to meet the goal, and that further and more ambitious targets would need to be set at future conferences.  Our own initial target was particularly modest, but we can certainly do better.  We have the technological capacity and natural resources to not only power our own economy through renewable energy, but to become a global exporter of such energy, with huge benefits for regional economies.  We are on the verge of a rapid transition from petrol to electric vehicles.  Australian businesses are ready and able to drive these changes.

What is required now is for our national government to step up with a policy framework which leads and drives this transformation.  I would urge you and your colleagues to begin preparing now to take an ambitious program of decarbonisation to Glasgow in 2020.

I will continue to pray for you as you navigate the difficult local and global territory that is leading our country.  I know it requires great wisdom and insight and great courage to take on this role.  I pray that your legacy will be as the Prime Minister who broke the impasse on climate change and put our nation on the path to a sustainable future.

Yours sincerely