Pages tagged "climate change"
Australian parents: Stop fossil fuels from polluting our education
The Australian curriculum must be protected from fossil fuel lobby groups seeking to rewrite facts in our children’s education, says Australian Parents for Climate Action (AP4CA).
A review of the national curriculum is currently open for public consultation and has received a submission from Australia’s chief fossil fuels lobby group, the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA).
AP4CA, which represents over 14,000 parents and carers, welcomes revisions proposed by The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) to the National School Curriculum’s existing sustainability cross-curriculum priority, which highlight the impact of human behavior on climate change and the potential for human innovation to ensure a safe climate for future generations.
Sign the petition: Protect our kids from climate harm
Australian kids just made history:
The Federal Court of Australia has enshrined more climate protection for our children into law.
On July 8, Judge Bromberg confirmed that the Federal Environment Minister has a duty of care to avoid causing personal injury and death to Australian children from carbon emissions when approving a coal extension project (Sharma v Minister for the Environment).
But that protection for our children is now under threat.
The Federal Government has signaled its intention to appeal the declaration and to avoid its duty of care to protect Aussie kids from injury or death from climate change.
Eight kids won this declaration for all Australian children alive today. Now they need our support.
We must defend the rights of children not to suffer injury or death from climate change as a result of any government intent on approving new fossil fuel projects. If Australian families show their support, we can demonstrate the public mandate is for the government to support this declaration and not to waste public funds in fighting it.
Demand the Federal Environment Minister support the rights of children to be protected from climate harm and to wholeheartedly apply this lawful duty of care in all decisions made by the Environment Minister.
To the Hon Sussan Ley MP,
We urge you to support the recent Federal Court declaration that the Environment Minister has a duty to avoid causing personal injury and death to Australian children from carbon emissions when approving coal extension projects.
You have the power and the duty of care to protect our children against the catastrophic harms of climate change fuelled by fossil fuel projects. And we urge you to apply this duty of care in all of the decisions made by the Environment Minister and enshrine this duty of care into law.
Signed, Australian mums, dads, grandparents, carers, and family members.
Parents head to the climate strike – to fight for their kids’ future
21 May 2021
Thousands of parents and grandparents around Australia are being schooled by student Climate Strikers, at colourful local events calling for climate action.
Suzie Brown, mother and National Director of Australian Parents for Climate Action said: “Australian parents are joining their kids to take the day off work and school to attend the Climate Strikes today. The School Strike 4 Climate leaders are still teenagers, but they are showing Australian adults what leadership on climate change looks like.”
“As parents we have to be there in solidarity with our kids who, let’s face it, are going to be the ones to really bear the brunt of more droughts, storms and fires if we don’t act on the dire science warnings about climate change,” said Brown.
Read more
Transforming Climate Grief
Australian Parents for Climate Action, with support from School Strike 4 Climate, hosted an Expert Panel Q&A
"Transforming Climate Grief" on Monday 10 May 2021 at 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM
with special guests Author Jonica Newby, Climate Striker Jasmine Bowtell, and Psychologist Susie Burke.
This special online Zoom event has now been packaged for future enjoyment.
ABOUT:
We know that many Australian parents are suffering from climate grief and anxiety - and we want to empower you to know how to parent in the face of climate grief, and to transform your grief into action. So we've invited three experts to provide practical tools, personal experience and good advice on how to deal with our fear and sadness about the impact of climate change on our world and our kids' future in a constructive way. More details about our Special Guest Speakers below.
WATCH the speakers
LISTEN to the speakers
DOWNLOAD the resources from Senior Psychologist Susie Burke
BUY Jonica Newby's book "Beyond Climate Grief"
Featuring:
JONICA NEWBY
How do we find courage when climate change overwhelms us? "Beyond Climate Grief" is a personal story by award-winning science reporter Jonica Newby exploring how to navigate the emotional turmoil of climate change. Jonica is a science reporter, author, TV presenter and director best known for her two decades on ABC TV’s popular weekly science program, Catalyst. She has twice won the Eureka Award, Australia’s most prestigious science journalism prize, and is a recipient of a World TV Award. Originally trained as a veterinarian, her first book was The Animal Attraction.
JASMINE BOWTELL
Jasmine has been wanting to vote since she was 16 — and is excited to be able to exercise this right at the next election! She lives in Zali Stegall’s electorate, and whilst she says Zali has done so much for the Northern Beaches area, Jasmine and her community are still facing a proposed gas plant across the beaches from Manly to Newcastle.
"Gas isn’t the future and this proposal isn’t okay: our water systems will be polluted, tourist industries will be ruined, and it will impact the livelihood of so many people. I live 15 minutes away from Manly and it is one of my favourite places in the world — I cannot sit back and watch my childhood be shovelled away by a government invested in dirty fossil fuels like gas.
I'm both passionate about equality and the environment and I won't stop striking until someone speaks up and owns up to the action we want! If we pressurize the government I hope we can make transformative change. I'm also a big feminist and I believe that we all should be able to live a life free from oppression and imbalance. I'm 17 and I'm in my final year of school balancing it all, but I will always make sure the future is bright and that I inspire as many people as possible.
I joined the climate movement in 2020 and I've been hooked since, I love it soo much and I have a raging passion for life and social justice. One day I would love to be in a parliament and show that women are strong and powerful and that we don't need men to tell us our worth."
DR SUSIE BURKE
Her work examines how climate change impacts on people’s mental health, and how people across the country are coming to terms with the climate emergency and engaging with the problems and solutions.
Dr Burke specialises in pro-environmental behaviour, coping with climate change, talking with children about the environment, preparing for natural disasters, and psychosocial recovery in the aftermath of disasters. And she's also a parent of a school striker!
Meet your local group!
We have local AP4CA groups across all Australian states and territories, where parents get together to support, inform and empower each on climate, take action and have fun!
Check out the locations below. They're welcoming and supportive, and would love to meet you online or in person!
If there is no local group near you listed here, please email us to see if we can connect you with local parents who want to take action on climate.
Or perhaps you'd like to start a group in your local area? We'd love to support you.
You can also post in our very active national Facebook group to find other parents in your area.
Join with us!
Join us in fighting for climate solutions!
We are 14,000 + concerned parents like you who want our government and big business to take more action on climate.
Together we advocate for positive solutions, aiming for a safer future for our children.
- Simple, parent-friendly actions you can do to make a difference on climate: personally, local and through widespread change.
- Invitations to join free events like the Climate Strike, Solar Our Schools actions and local climate action gatherings, including crafter-noons, climate related play dates and coffee meet ups!
- Support being a parent, carer or teacher in a changing climate.
- Be part of a community of parents who are actively pushing solutions to climate change!
Join with us!
Join us in fighting for climate solutions!
We are 14,000 + concerned parents like you who want our government and big business to take more action on climate.
Together we advocate for positive solutions, aiming for a safer future for our children.
We need your help to make a colourful, memorable impact on Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge to get him on board our Solar Our Schools campaign — to install solar panels and batteries at every school and preschool in Australia.
Australian Parents for Climate Action lodged a Pre-Budget Submission to the Federal government to include funding for Solar Our Schools in the May 2021 budget, and many of our supporters wrote a personal submission in support of Solar Our Schools — thank you, legends!
But so far our requests for Federal funding for Solar Our Schools, and our request for a meeting with Minister Tudge, have fallen on deaf ears, so we need to make sure he can hear the voices of the 11,000-plus parents and children across Australia who support Solar Our Schools!
Insiders tell us that letters and artwork from children make it to the top of the pile of Ministers' correspondence — so your kids artwork will get noticed in a way that letters from us adults won't!
Here’s how you can help:
1. Make a Time to Shine artwork with your child (check out our inspiration board below)
Create a sun artwork with a “sun clock” theme to convey the message to Minister Tudge that the clock is ticking on the need to reduce our carbon emissions, and we need him to advocate for funding Solar Our Schools!
Older kids can write a letter — or make a TikTok video! — explaining why Solar Our Schools is a no-brainer. Here are some points they could mention:
- Solar and batteries on every school and preschool in Australia will lower school energy costs, create local jobs and lower carbon emissions!
- The Federal Government has fallen behind the states on renewable energy infrastructure investment. It’s time for the Federal Government to come to the party and shine on our schools!
- With a Federal election and the Glasgow COP26 conference both looming, now is the time for our Federal government to invest in renewable energy infrastructure that reduces our carbon emissions and creates green jobs across Australia!
2. Send your Time to Shine creations to Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge
Hon Alan Tudge MP
Minister for Education and Youth
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
(02) 6277 7350
NB: If you are sending Minister Tudge your Time to Shine artwork or letters in the mail, take a photo of them before you send them off.
3. Share your Time to Shine creations with us
Share photos of your artwork and letters and/or your videos on social media with the hashtags #SolarOurSchools and #TimetoShine, and our handle @ap4ca.
If you want to tag Minister Tudge, his handles are: @tudgeMP (Facebook), @alan_tudge (Instagram) and @AlanTudgeMP (Twitter).
Also, please email them to [email protected]ca.org for us to share with our supporters so we can encourage others to send a message to Minister Tudge!
Whilst the Australian federal government is yet to set a net zero target, we can all reduce our own carbon emissions by making Personal Change, but we must also push governments and businesses to act by working toward Local Change and Widespread Change.
Enter your email address here and we will send you our handy climate action checklist, which includes:
1. The Big Picture on Carbon
2. Goal: Personal Change
- Use less fossil fuels at home
- Cut your emissions from transport
- Move your money!
- Offset your carbon emissions
- Support climate justice
- Eat less meat
- Reduce food waste
3. Goal: Local Change
- Reduce your school or preschool’s carbon emissions
- Start more climate conversations
- Share your story
- Find your tribe
- Hit the streets
- Lobby your council
- Run for election, or support someone else to do so
4. Goal: Widespread Change
- Campaign for climate action at the Federal Election
- Help to Solar Our Schools
- Create your own petition
- Add your name to demand a national Climate Bill
5. Sources and Further Reading
Sign up