Victorian Climate Action Network

Category: Current news

  • First Climate Emergency Conference in Darebin

    First Climate Emergency Conference in Darebin

    In September 2018, Darebin Council is convening a Climate Emergency Conference which will bring together people and organisations with shared concerns for our environment to demonstrate leadership in climate emergency action.

    The aim of this conference is to identify strategic action and opportunities for collaboration in addressing the climate emergency. Darebin City Council writes:

    “The climate emergency conference will also create opportunities to build collaborations for advocacy and influence across government, industries and organisations that have the greatest power to take urgent and appropriate action to respond to the climate emergency.

    The conference will include a series of plenary addresses focusing on scientific understandings, social dynamics, learnings from disaster management and corporate responsibility, and will build a detailed and complex picture of the challenges we face.

    Through the themes of communication and engagement and taking action, the conference will also explore issues of how we communicate and identify innovative ways to engage and empower people to take meaningful and long-lasting action in response to the climate emergency.

    Your participation will significantly contribute to the development of a collective understanding of climate emergency, and the range and scope of advocacy and practical responses required to restore a safe climate. It is only through a collaborative, partnership approach that we can collectively scale up our action and advocacy to the degree required to avoid catastrophic climate change is required.”

    A full program of events will be available soon on Council’s website.

    Tuesday 11 September 2018 at 8:30am to Wednesday 12 September at 5:00pm
    Northcote Town Hall, 189 High Street, Northcote, VIC 3070, Australia

    » Book ticket

    » Facebook event page

  • A possible Victorian peoples climate summit: survey

    A possible Victorian peoples climate summit: survey

    The survey closes on Friday 8 September 2017.

    At our last VCAN meeting, members suggested that it might be time for us to run a Victorian Summit for groups working on climate change, in their many and various ways. This was with a view to building a strong, and growing Victorian grassroots base for climate change action – a sort of Victorian Peoples Climate Summit. 

    A small group of us has agreed to canvas this idea and assess if we are on the right track and if so what sort of a Summit meeting this might be. We have your email address as a potentially interested group, but may not have the right person, in which case we hope you will forward this to the right person.

    At our first meeting, we decided to set up a survey to ask you what you’d like to do, if anything. We also decided to ask as many groups as we could find in Victoria who are taking some form of action on climate change. This means that some of you who receive this may not be members of VCAN, or indeed may not even have heard of us.  Take a look at our website if you’d like a bit more information before you proceed: www.vcan.net.au

    So here is our survey to see if you also are looking for some connection between groups working for similar ends.




    Please only respond if you have a possible interest in attending. We will take this as an individual response, rather than a group one.  We will be guided by these responses, as we are not intent upon taking this sort of action for the sake of it. 

    Indeed we will need assistance to achieve a good outcome and we will be looking for offers of help a bit further down the track. We are hoping to provide a forum that meets the needs and interests of its attendees, not just those who set it up.

    The survey aims to assess your interest in a summit, proposed for next year in February or March or possibly April. You will be asked how interested you’d be in attending and what sort of topics would attract you to come. If you find that the survey doesn’t enable you to say what you’d like to say, please email us with your thoughts, or talk to us. (Contact email: ci@the.inter.net.au)

    Thanks so much for taking the few minutes it will take to answer the survey. If you would like more information or clarification of any part of the survey please call or email. Once these survey results have been analysed, if we are to proceed, a follow up survey will ascertain what role you might like to play. The survey closes on Friday 8 September 2017.

    » Click here to take the ten question survey

    Thanks for helping out here.

    Yours sincerely
    Carolyn Ingvarson for VCAN working group


    VCAN Working group
    Robert Dawlings, Andrea Bunting, Carol Ride, Anthony Gleeson, Carolyn Ingvarson

    The Victorian Climate Action Network (VCAN) is a network of groups across Victoria taking action on climate change. We keep in touch and meet regularly to support each other and exchange information about our activities.



  • Darebin City Council launches draft Climate Emergency Plan

    Darebin City Council launches draft Climate Emergency Plan

    [fusion_text]Darebin City Council has produced a 76-page draft Climate Emergency Plan. There aren’t many municipalities, if any, around the world which have done that – so this is a step to take special notice of.

    Now the councillors would like to know whether the residents of Darebin think they are on the right track, so the draft plan has been put out on the council’s website for public commenting and submissions, and forum meetings about the plan are going to be held in Darebin on 8 June, 13 June and 20 June 2017.

    » See more on www.yoursaydarebin.com.au/climateaction

    » Download the Summary (PDF, 8 pages, 2.5MB) and/or the Draft plan (PDF, 76 pages, 5.4MB)

    » Listen to an interview with Darebin’s mayor and information about what other councils have been doing on:
    www.climateemergencydeclaration.org/mav2017


    Survey: eight out of ten Australians ready to act on climate emergency

    A survey done by the Global Challenges Forum has found that eight out of ten Australians (81% of the 1,000 Australian participants in the poll) agree with the proposition:

    “Do you think we should try to prevent climate catastrophes, which might not occur for several decades or centuries, even if it requires making considerable changes that impact on our current living standards?”

    The figure across the 8,000 people polled in eight countries – Australia, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, UK, Germany and USA – was 88%. Nine out of ten.


    “The dissonance between what Australian’s understand and what government is doing is remarkable. Australia is failing in its responsibility to safeguard its people and protect their way of life. It is also failing as a world citizen, by downplaying the profound global impacts of climate change and shirking its responsibility to act.”
    David Spratt


    » Climate Code Red – 29 May 2017:
    Three-quarters of Australians say climate warming “a catastrophic risk”, even as government turns a blind eye



    [/fusion_text]

  • This weekend the climate emergency is out in the open

    This weekend the climate emergency is out in the open

    Stall at the SLF: collecting signatures for the Climate Emergency Declaration
    Stall at the SLF: collecting signatures for the Climate Emergency Declaration

    Interview with festival director about the climate emergency

    16-minute radio interview with Sustainable Living Festival director Luke Taylor about his ambition for the festival that dares to mingle with “the mother of all issues” – the climate emergency.

    The interview was broadcasted in The Sustainable Hour on 8 February 2017.



    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Festival links

    Sustainable Living Festival’s ‘Big Weekend’ is on this weekend – 10-12 February 2017

    » www.slf.org.au/2017promo

    » Festival Big Weekend program

    » Home page of the Sustainable Living Festival

    Climate emergency focus at Sustainable Living Festival

    Climate emergency highlights
    Not to miss at the Sustainable Living Festival in Melbourne:

    Saturday 11 February Under the Gum
    • A conversation with John Hewson on climate change and conservative thinking

    Sunday afternoon 12 February at Under the Gum:
    • How Councils Can Reverse Global Warming
    • Climate Trumped
    • Paul Gilding – Great Disruption to Great Transition

    Wednesday evening 15 February:
    • Tim Flannery: Why We Must Declare A Climate Emergency

     

    Examples of climate emergency relevant SLF events:

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Nature’s Apprentice presents:
    Psychology For A Safe Climate
    Friday 10 February at 4:00 pm at Under the Gum
    Feelings rather than facts move us to act. What’s a rational response?
    » Read more: www.slf.org.au/event/psychology-safe-climate

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Centre For Sustainability Leadership presents:
    Leadership Rewired & Reimagined
    Friday 10 February at 5:00 pm at Under the Gum
    In these (climate) changing times, the world needs to reimagine leadership
    » Read more: www.slf.org.au/event/leadership-rewired-reimagined/

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Peter Singer – Festival Great Debate
    Friday 10 February at 6:30 pm at The Greenhouse (Cost: $25)
    Peter Singer is a signatoree of the Climate Emergency Declaration petition
    » Read more: www.slf.org.au/event/peter-singer

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Lighter Footprints presents:
    Right On! Talking To Conservatives
    Saturday 11 February at 1:00 pm at Under the Gum
    A conversation with John Hewson on climate change and conservative thinking
    » Read more: www.slf.org.au/event/right-on-talking-to-conservatives

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Think Inc. & SLF presents:
    Xiuhtezcatl Martinez: Why I sued the U.S. government
    Saturday 11 February at 3:00 pm in ACMI Cinema 2 (Cost: $43)
    We are standing here to fight and protect everything that we love
    » Read more: www.slf.org.au/event/xiuhtezcatl-martinez

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Safe Climate Alliance presents:
    How Councils Can Reverse Global Warming
    Sunday 12 February at 2:00 pm at Under the Gum
    Exploring the critical role local councils can play in reversing global warming
    » Read more: www.slf.org.au/event/councils-can-reverse-global-warming

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Friends Of The Earth presents:
    Climate Trumped
    Sunday 12 February at 3:00 pm at Under the Gum
    Or a chance to reshape climate strategy for success
    » Read more: www.slf.org.au/event/climate-in-a-time-of-trump

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Breakthrough presents:
    Paul Gilding – Great Disruption to Great Transition
    Sunday 12 February at 4:00 pm at The Greenhouse
    • Paul Gilding: Key Note. Great Disruption to Great Transition – only a WWII scale of mobilisation will lead to climate victory. ​Paul Gilding knows it’s ​​time to face the climate ​emergency.
    • Panel discussion: The opportunities and barriers relating to a WWII climate mobilisation approach
    In the panel:
    Senator Janet Rice – Australian Greens Party
    Philip Sutton – Sustainability Strategist
    Bryony Edwards – Local government safe climate campaigner
    • Audience Q&A

    » Read more: www.slf.org.au/event/paul-gilding

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Bayside Climate Change Action Group presents:
    Tim Flannery: Why We Must Declare A Climate Emergency
    Wednesday 15 February at 7:30 pm at Brighton Grammar School
    Is it now or never as we near the end of the critical decade?
    Tim Flannery is a signatoree of the Climate Emergency Declaration petition
    » Read more: www.slf.org.au/event/tim-flannery

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    The Royal Society Of Victoria & Science In Public present:
    Breaking News
    Thursday 16 February at 5:45 pm at The Royal Society of Victoria
    An Insider’s Guide to the New Media Climate
    » Read more: www.slf.org.au/event/breaking-news

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    Beyond Zero Emissions presents:
    #ZeroIn10 – The Zero Carbon Australia story
    Three days of talks featuring at the BZE Big Weekend stall
    » Read more: www.slf.org.au/event/zeroin10-1

    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
    » See list of climate related events:
    www.slf.org.au/tag/climate

    » See the full festival program:
    www.slf.org.au/events

     


  • Communication Mixdown: Climate in the media

    Communication Mixdown: Climate in the media

    On Thursday 17 November 2016 at 6:00–6:30pm, Communication Mixdown – a new show on 3CR Community Radio – went on air with half an hour about how climate change and climate science is being communicated. Press play to listen here:

    Download audio file

    The program featured interviews with:
    • Simon Torok, science communicator, director of Scientell
    • Mik Aidt, independent journalist and climate activist, director of Centre for Climate Safety
    • Presenter: John Langer

    Simon Torok has worked in communication for more than 20 years. This included almost 13 years as a CSIRO Communication Manager in Melbourne, where he developed strategies and formed teams to deliver communication campaigns that – using new, social and traditional media – raised awareness of the impact of CSIRO’s research into understanding our oceans, coasts, climate and atmosphere.

    Scientell is a science communication and marketing business specialising in planning and implementing communication strategies for scientific, environmental and technical agencies
    » www.scientell.com.au

    Mik Aidt is a Danish journalist who moved to Australia in 2013, founder and co-host of The Sustainable Hour on 94.7 The Pulse which has been podcasting close to 150 hours of radio about energy, climate change and the environment, all available in iTunes and on www.climatesafety.info/thesustainablehour. Together with radio co-host Anthony Gleeson, he launched a petition calling on ABC and SBS to break the silence on the climate emergency.

    Communication Mixdown is a new show on 3CR Community Radio which casts a critical eye on the myriad ways in which we communicate with each other in our increasingly interconnected, multi-media platform world. “Each week we mix down the who, the what, the where, and the how of particular communication events, messages, trends and technologies, and then consider: what impacts and what consequences?”
    » www.3cr.org.au/communicationmixdown

    3CR is “Melbourne’s voice of dissent”, broadcasting on 855AM, Digital Radio, On Demand, and Live Streaming
    » www.3cr.org.au

    3crcommix-collage700

    #SpeakUpOnClimate  #NoMoreBadInvestments  #NoMoreExcuses  #ClimateEmergency  #ClimateEmergencyDeclaration  #ClimateSolutions  #PetitionToProtectEverything

  • Climate emergency campaigning workshop 1

    Climate emergency campaigning workshop 1

    Presentations at the Victorian Climate Action Network forum – a ‘climate emergency campaigning workshop’ – held on 11 September 2016 in Melbourne.

    David Spratt: Why is emergency-scale action necessary?


    “We need to understand the gravity of the climate emergency and get to the bottom of what science actually demands.”
    David Spratt


    » More information about David Spratt’s presentation, including all slides


    Jane Morton: Moving into emergency mode

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u33rN_WQfPs


    Philip Sutton: What can we learn from history about the declaration of an emergency

    » More information about what a Climate Emergency Act could look like


    Margaret Hender: Emergency campaigning – what have we learnt so far?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9ZiSCMB8nw

    What have we learnt so far from the Climate Emergency Declaration and Mobilisation campaign in Australia and what is needed to achieve our goal?

    presentation_mode

    » Margaret Hender’s presentation in writing, including all slides



    Simon Sheikh: Climate emergency strategic planning

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEvTsJk_Xpo

    Simon Sheikh, CEO Future Super and former GetUp leader, presents his ideas as to how to create momentum on the critical path to the declaration of a climate emergency.

    Constituencybased campaigning
    Constituency-based campaigning – illustration by Simon Sheikh


    Mark Wakeham: Campaigning on the climate emergency – some thoughts

    markwakeham-scrndmp700




    Mark Wakeham is the CEO for Environment Victoria, one of Australia’s leading environment non-government organisations. He talks about how the message that there isn’t a carbon budget left in his view is best communicated by climate action campaigners – drawing a parallel to the anti-nuclear movements’ refraining from using the mushroom-cloud in their campaigning because it they thought it would put people off. Should we or shouldn’t we be showing the mushroom-cloud of the ‘climate mind bomb’?

    Download audio mp3 file (Duration: 11 minutes)

    Ezra Silk: An update on The Climate Mobilization campaign in the United States

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65IT9koutAc

    Ezra Silk from Climate Mobilization talks about the American experience with climate emergency campaigning

    » More information on www.theclimatemobilization.org

    See also:

    » Margaret Klein Salamon – 13 May 2016:
    How to go into emergency mode



    img_4809billboard_1000

    Other questions discussed at the workshop

    What is climate emergency campaigning?
    · Is it reinforcing and building accurate description of the climate science within all climate campaigns?
    · Is it campaigning for the declaration of a climate emergency?
    · Is it campaigning for a massive emergency-speed mobilisation?
    · Is it all of the above?
    · Is it something else? Something additional to the above?

    Does your group do climate emergency campaigning? Which type? If not why not? If so how is it going? Could you do more or it?

    » More information about the Victorian Climate Action Network (VCAN) on www.vcan.net.au


    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    banner-signthepetition700

    » Sign the Climate Emergency Declaration petition


    #ClimateEmergencyDeclaration   #ClimateEmergency   #ClimateSolutions


  • Dire warnings coming from Australian climate scientists

    Dire warnings coming from Australian climate scientists

    154 Australian scientists demand climate policy that matches the science

    “While the Paris Agreement remains unbinding and global warming has received minimal attention in the recent elections, governments worldwide are presiding over a large-scale demise of the planetary ecosystems, which threatens to leave large parts of Earth uninhabitable. We call on the Australian government to tackle the root causes of an unfolding climate tragedy and do what is required to protect future generations and nature, including meaningful reductions of Australia’s peak carbon emissions and coal exports, while there is still time. There is no Planet B.”



    Read the letter and see who signed it:

    » The Conversation – 25 August 2016:
    An open letter to the Prime Minister on the climate crisis, from 154 scientists

    Read more:

    » The Guardian – 25 August 2016:
    Letter signed by 154 Australian experts demands climate policy match the science
    Leading climate and environmental scientists urge Malcolm Turnbull to take urgent action ‘while there is still time’

    » The Guardian – 25 August 2016:
    Climate scientists write another letter warning of unfolding crisis for Turnbull to ignore
    By Graham Readfearn



  • February 2016 hottest month on record

    February 2016 hottest month on record

    month-glob-temp_Mar2016_560

    Mind-blowing February 2016 temperature anomaly, close to 2°C above true pre-industrial

    NASA say February 2016 hottest month on record, jaw dropping 1.35°C above mid-20th century average as climate cooks:

    » www.weather.com

    Note this anomaly is over the 1950-1980 baseline, which is 0.3°C warmer that late around 1900 and around 0.6°C warmer than true pre-industrial around 1750. This is close to 2°C warmer the true pre-industrial temperature. As Professor Michael E Mann of “hockey stick” fame says on Twitter:

    “Feb GISTEMP +1.35C 1951- is ~2C relative to true pre-industrial baseline”

    David Spratt commented: “This is seriously crazy. Before October 2015, the highest GISS monthly anomaly was 0.96°C (Jan ’07). The last five months: 1.06°C, 1.03°C, 1.10°C, 1.14°C, 1.35°C! And March is also running above 1.3°C. It seems that the UK Met Office predicting that 2016 will be hotter than record breaking 2015 is on track.”

    » Graph at www.data.giss.nasa.gov

    “Compared with the rival record giant El Nino of 1997-98, global temperatures are running about 0.5 degrees hotter.
    That shows how much much global warming we have had since then. The first half of March 2016 is at least as warm, and it means temperatures are clearly more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.”
    Stefan Rahmstorf, professor at Potsdam Climate Institute & UNSW

    “This is really quite stunning … it’s completely unprecedented,” said Stefan Rahmstorf, from Germany’s Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research and a visiting professorial fellow at the University of NSW, noting the NASA data as reported by the Wunderground blog.

    “We are in a kind of climate emergency now,” Professor Rahmstorf said, noting that global carbon dioxide levels last year rose by a record rate of more than 3 parts per million.

    Something to write in the diary: 2016 is the first year that global temperatures exceeded 1.5°C over the preindustrial level.

    Source:

    » The Age – 13 March 2016:
    Scientist says February temperature spike sign of “climate emergency”

    Related articles:

    » Climate Code Red – 14 March 2016:
    Mind-blowing February 2016 temperature spike a “climate emergency” says scientist, as extreme events hit Vietnam, Fiji and Zimbabwe

    » The Guardian – 14 March 2016:
    February breaks global temperature records by ‘shocking’ amount

    » Wunderground – 13 March 2016:
    February Smashes Earth’s All-Time Global Heat Record by a Jaw-Dropping Margin



    new-aus-climate

    Changing climate in northern Victoria

    Changes in the climate are already happening in northern Victoria and southern NSW. 

Recent research from the Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC) says the region is already experiencing a ‘new climate’, one that has become noticeable since about 2000. This is most noticeable in the shift of rainfall patterns.

 Meanwhile research carried out for the state government documents – yet again – the expected increases in average temperature, extended heatwaves and ongoing water stress that is coming with climate change.

    » Source: www.aegic.org.au

    » Friends of the Earth Melbourne: Climate change impacts on Northern Victoria


    $10m drought fund – but more needed

    Farmers across 11 western Victorian shires have been given access to risk management grants of up to $10,000 and a second round of $2000 stock containment grants under the State Government’s $10 million Drought Support Fund.

    “It’s valuable support at a time when drought conditions are looking grim, right across the state,” Victorian Farmers Federation President Peter Tuohey said. “This funding will help our farmers deal with the impacts of drought and the ongoing dry that’s undermining the carrying capacity of many farms as they face repeated seasons of low rainfall and stock water shortages.”

    The $10m Drought Support Fund includes $1.5m for Farm Risk Management Grants, with farmers able to claim $3000 to do a business plan and up to another $7000 for training or to build on-farm infrastructure to help manage climatic risks.


    Rough start to the year

    The Australian Youth Climate Coalition wrote:

    “On 3 March 2016, for the first time in human history, we passed a scary milestone for extreme heat. In the Northern Hemisphere temperatures briefly breached the two degree warming limit scientists have long warned of.

    A warning sign that makes the shift to 100% clean energy and keeping fossil fuels in the ground so necessary.
    Then we heard that abnormally warm waters on the Great Barrier Reef are causing huge coral bleaching at several locations, very likely to only get worse, increasing to the highest warning level and possibly killing off coral in many areas.

    For too long Australia has mined and burned the polluting fuels at the heart of this problem. Prime Minister Turnbull can do better.
    It’s time for Prime Minister Turnbull and his government to turn this around. Call Turnbull today and tell him that you want a commitment to 100% renewable energy and keeping coal in the ground this election year. ”

    » www.aycc.org.au/call_malcolm



  • Invitation to the Geelong Act on Climate Festival

    Invitation to the Geelong Act on Climate Festival

    ActOnClimate_560

    Build a better, safer, future for all

    The Geelong Act on Climate Festival official program has been released!

    This year between 20th and 23rd November, Geelong is hosting a community festival to empower people with ways they can act on climate change. The event will showcase positive solutions that encourage our community to Act on Climate and help build a better, safer, future for all. The festival is an initiative of Geelong Sustainability and is supported by local government, business and community.

    See the action packed events lineup below:

    1. October Green Drinks & Program Launch

    2. Opening Night and Keynote Address

    3. Market Day

    4. Run Geelong – Act on Climate Team

    5. ‘This Changes Everything’ Film Premier

    View the Event Program Online

    OR

    Download the Event Flyer and Program here

    October Green Drinks & Program Launch

    Matching Climate Goals With Climate Reality

    Guest Speaker:  Author Philip Sutton, Author of Striking Targets and Climate Code Red

    Plus Events Program Launch: A run down of all the Act on Climate Festival events happening in November.

    What: October Green Drinks – The Restoration of a Safe Climate

    When: 5:30pm, Wednesday 28th October 2015

    Where: Beav’s Bar, 77 Lt Malop Street, Geelong

    RSVP & More Info: www.actonclimatefestival.org/green_drinks

    Opening Night and Keynote Address

    A thought provoking and inspiring evening where together we focus on how our community can Act on Climate and build a better, safety future for all. The evening will feature keynote speeches from prominent experts in the fields of climate change, renewable energy, and economics. Followed by a discussion panel with keynote speakers and local climate change representatives.

    Climate Change, Crisis and Opportunity – Prof David Karoly, Professor of Atmospheric Science, University of Melbourne

    The Economics of Climate Change – Bob Welsh, Executive Director Sustainability Advisers, former CEO of VIC Super

    Climate Justice and the Role of Community – Victoria McKenzie-McHarg, Climate Manager at Australian Conservation Foundation

    Pathways to a Low Carbon Future – How Australia can build a prosperous clean economy – Adam Majcher, Engagement Manager at ClimateWorks

    The evening will conclude with tea, coffee and finger food and an opportunity to network with the community.

    RSVP required, entry via gold coin donation

    What: Opening Night of the Act on Climate Festival

    When: 7:00pm – 9:00pm, Friday 20th November 2015

    Where: Simonds Stadium – Captains Room in the Premiership Stand, South Geelong

    RSVP & More Info: www.actonclimatefestival.org/opening_night

    marketday-FBmeme560

    Act on Climate Festival – Market Day

    On Saturday the 21st of November, Geelong Sustainability is running a Community Market Day as part of the Act on Climate Festival. This event will showcase positive solutions that encourage our community to Act on Climate – to build a better, safer, future for all.

    Market Day is a family fun event with market stalls, information, music, activities, and places for the general public to sit and relax. Located on the Geelong waterfront at Steampacket Gardens, the event is ideally located for a family outing.

    What: Act on Climate Festival – Market Day

    Where: Steampacket Gardens, Eastern Beach, Geelong

    When: 10:00am – 2:00pm, Saturday 21st November 2015

    RSVP & More Info: www.actonclimatefestival.org/market

    We are currently booking exhibitor spots for the market day – be part of this exciting event!

    Become an exhibitor: Let us know you’d like to become an exhibitor here

    Run Geelong – Act on Climate Team

    “Join me in the run to help save our future while supporting two awesome causes at the same time. It’s all about coming together and having a bit of a laugh and fun on the way. We have a voice and together we will use it to get Geelong to Act on Climate” says 14-year-old Act On Climate Team Ambassador Jack Nyhof from Geelong High School.

    We have established a team as part of Run Geelong. The ‘Act on Climate Team’ will join in on the 6Km Run / Walk at Run Geelong.

    What: Run Geelong – Act on Climate Team

    Where: 9:00am, Sunday 22nd November

    When: Eastern Park Circuit, Geelong

    RSVP & More Info: www.actonclimatefestival.org/run_geelong

    ‘This Changes Everything’ Geelong Film Premier 

    JOIN US FOR THE GEELONG FILM PREMIER OF THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

    What if confronting the climate crisis is the best chance we’ll ever get to build a better world?

    Filmed over 211 shoot days in nine countries and five continents over four years, This Changes Everything is an epic attempt to re-imagine the vast challenge of climate change.

    Directed by Avi Lewis, and inspired by Naomi Klein’s international non-fiction bestseller This Changes Everything, the film presents seven powerful portraits of communities on the front lines, from Montana’s Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond.

    Tea, coffee and finger food will be provided after the film screening.

    Tickets are selling quick – Book now to avoid disappointment.

    Ticket price is $15

    What: ‘This Changes Everything’ Film Premier

    Where: 7:00pm- 9:00pm, Monday 23rd November 2015

    When: Courthouse Youth Arts, 60 Little Malop Street, Geelong

    Tickets & More Info: www.actonclimatefestival.org/this_changes_everything

     

    More Information

    The Act on Climate Festival is an initiative of Geelong Sustainability and is supported by Future Proofing Geelong, Sustainability Victoria, local business and the community.

    The Festival is occurring at the same time as a number of global campaigns, events and initiatives in the lead up to the United Nations Climate Summit in Paris.

    Event program and more information – www.ActOnClimateFestival.org

    Act on Climate Festival on Facebook – www.facebook.com/ActOnClimateFestival

    Download the event flyer

    For more information please contact Event Organiser Dan Cowdell on 0428 944 929 or daniel@cowdell.id.au

    Copyright © 2015 Geelong Sustainability Group, All rights reserved.

  • Events leading up to the UN Summit in Paris

    UPCOMING EVENTS

    28-29 October: The Australian Climate Security Panel (Canberra)

    • Australia and its neighbours are on the frontline of climate change. Soaring temperatures, rising sea levels and increases in extreme weather events will play a role in raising the risk of conflict, increasing the displacement of people and worsening the extent of destruction caused by extreme weather events in our region. Climate change exposes Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen, as well as Australia more broadly, to considerable strategic risk and uncertainty.
    • UNSW Canberra has partnered with the Climate Council to host The Australian Climate Security Panel. Hosted by UNSW Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy, this panel will bring together world renowned Defence leaders and a scientific expert to discuss climate change, its security implications and the steps being taken by the US and UK militaries to be prepared.
    • To register your attendance and for further information, please click here.

    1 Nov – UNFCCC compilation report of INDCs

    • The secretariat is set to release its synthesis report on the aggregate effect of the INDCs communicated by Parties. (Parties’ submissions published here.)
    • Further to the negotiations under the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP), the Conference of the Parties (COP) invited all Parties to initiate or intensify domestic preparations for their Intended National Determined Contributions (INDCs) towards achieving the objective of the Convention, without prejudice to the legal nature of the contributions, in the context of adopting a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all Parties.
    • The COP invited all Parties to communicate to the secretariat their INDCs well in advance of COP 21 (by the first quarter of 2015 by those Parties ready to do so) in a manner that facilitates the clarity, transparency and understanding of the INDC. The COP also invited all Parties to consider communicating their undertakings in adaptation planning or consider including an adaptation component in their intended nationally determined contributions.

    10 Nov –  Release of IEA’s World Energy Outlook

    12 Nov – IEA World Energy Outlook 2015 Launch (Belgium)

    • The global climate negotiations leading up to December’s Paris conference, along with the precipitous fall in oil prices, and conflicts and instability in the Middle East are all making energy markets around the world more volatile than ever. What are the economic, environmental and security implications of so much uncertainty for Europe?
    • The event will start with the presentation of the latest IEA flagship publication by Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA, followed by a high-level panel debate, moderated by Chris Burns, Strategic Adviser at Friends of Europe.
    • More information and registration here.

    13 & 14 Nov – Live Earth & 24 Hours of Reality

    • Climate Reality’s fifth-annual 24 Hours of Reality wiill be a live, 24-hour event broadcast from eight key countries around the world and include appearances and commentary from Climate Reality Chairman Al Gore, and feature musical performances.
    • It aims to give a voice to people across the globe, allowing viewers online access to the best climate science, solutions and stories of progress in the climate fight. Together with partners all over the world the event will call on all citizens to demand a strong emissions reductions agreement when the world’s leaders gather in Paris this December to shape a new global climate agreement at COP21.

    14 Nov – 2015 Clean Air Summit (Melbourne)

    • Environmental Justice Australia are convening the 2015 Clean Air Summit – an opportunity for clean air advocates to share experience, sharpen our analysis and plan for cooperative action.
    • In air pollution hotspots around Australia, communities are suffering the brunt of air pollution that is poorly regulated and increasing year by year. Particle pollution from coal mines has doubled in the last 5 years and trebled in the last 10. Toxic emissions from power stations and fracking are of concern in many communities. Our emission standards for wood heaters and motor vehicles are outdated, and there is a strong case for much stricter national ambient air pollution standards. Environment ministers are expected to adopt new standards this December.
    • More information to come.

    14 Nov – Stop Funding Fossils day of action

    • The Stop Funding Fossils Day of Action will highlight the urgent need to end financial support for fossil fuel exploration, extraction and production. It will not only press governments to take immediate steps to follow up their pledges to end fossil fuel subsidies, but also put them on notice of a sustained global campaign targeting a complete phase out of financial support for fossil fuels.
    • More information here. Have your organisation endorse it here.

    15-16 Nov – G20 Leaders Summit in (Turkey)

    • In 2014 climate change emerged as a key issue at the G20 meetings, despite host nation Australia obstructing that process. The G20 presidency shifts from Australia to Turkey this year with this year’s meetings taking place in Antalya.
    • The leaders summit will be preceded by: 1-3 Sept Energy sustainability working group; 3-4 Sept Finance and Central bank deputies meetings; 4-5 Sept Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meetings; 1 Oct High Level conference on access to energy in SS Africa; 2 Oct G20 Energy Ministers meeting; 5-6 Oct Trade Ministers meeting; 8 Oxt Finance Ministers and Central Bank governors dinner; and 13-14 Nov Sherpa meeting.
    • The official landing page for the G20 Meetings in Paris can be found here.

    19 Nov – BHP Billiton AGM (Perth)

    20-23 Nov – Act on Climate Festival in Geelong

    27 Nov – The People’s Climate March in Melbourne

    26-27 Nov – UNESCO conference on indigenous people & climate change (France)

    • UNESCO will sponsor an international conference on “Resilience in a Time of Uncertainty: Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change,” the organization recently announced. This conference will be held in Paris on 26-27 November, ahead of COP21.
    • More information here.

    30 Nov – 9 Dec – COP21 (France)

    • The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC is expected to be an opportunity for the world’s governments to agree to steps that progress the world towards a pathway for containing global carbon emissions to levels that help limit the worst consequences of climate change.
    • The official landing page for COP 21 can be found here.

    4 Dec – “Pathway to Paris” Concert (France)

    • Pathway to Paris is an initiative in partnership with 350.org that brings together musicians, artists, activists, academics, politicians and innovators to participate in a series of events and dialogues to help raise consciousness around the urgency of climate action and the importance of establishing an ambitious, global, legally binding agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December 2015.
    • The final Pathway to Paris concert will take place December 4th 2015 in Paris and will include speakers and musicians such as Bill Mckibben, Naomi Klein, Vandana Shiva, Patti smith, Thom Yorke, Flea, Dhani Harrison, Tenzin Choegyal, Jesse Paris Smith, Rebecca Foon ad more.
    • Find more information at www.pathwaytoparis.com.

    4 Dec – Climate Summit for Local Leaders (France)