Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Climate spokesperson
The 2020 State of Climate Report was released on Friday and the findings are clear - Australia is experiencing disasters from climate heating now, and warming is continuing despite the global COVID economic slow down.
The BOM and CSIRO report is the latest to confirm Australia is experiencing longer, more dangerous fire seasons, and more frequent extreme weather events. Disturbingly, it projects that the extreme drought and temperature records set last year would be an average year when the world warms to 1.5 degrees.
This report’s findings show we’re living in a climate emergency. Our government should be confronting this challenge head-on to reduce its worst impacts in the future.
The State Budget was an opportunity to invest in climate adaptation to safeguard lutruwita/Tasmania, but it doesn’t include nearly enough money or planning to respond to the predicted more frequent and severe climate-related disasters.
The Budget should have tackled the twin crises of COVID and climate together. It was an opportunity to invest in carbon neutral and climate-ready jobs. Young people deserve hope for the future, and the government should be giving it to them through action.
Tasmania’s COVID-19 response has shown that when governments take a crisis seriously, change for the better is possible. What we need to see now is for the Liberals to tackle the climate crisis with the same urgency they applied to coronavirus.
A Budget that is serious about tackling the climate emergency would look to drive down emissions across every sector of the economy, and properly address crucial issues such as water security, firefighting capacity, and community preparedness. That’s exactly what the Greens’ Alternative Budget will do.
The Greens will table our climate-focused Alternative Budget this week.