2023-07-28
The era of global boiling is here. Communities in the Northern Hemisphere are sweltering under unprecedented temperatures, sea surface temperatures are at record highs and floods and fires are ravaging landscapes across the globe. Here in NSW, we lived it in our last fires and floods, with so many people still dealing with the consequences. We know it’s going to get worse.
Greens MP Sue Higginson and spokesperson for climate change said, “We literally have deafening alarm bells ringing from all directions and silence from the NSW Government. For weeks we have seen temperature records being broken day after day, climate induced disasters decimating communities across the globe and not a word from the NSW Government which is still hosting the world’s largest coal port at Newcastle and has no road map to net zero.
“The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, today told us that we can only avoid the very worst of climate change with dramatic, immediate climate action. The head of the World Meteorological Organisation has said, ‘climate action is not a luxury but a must’.
“I am calling on the NSW Premier to step up now. Premier, you are the leader. You must lead us now. Where are you on climate change, what’s your plan, where is our road map to net zero? 2050 is too late. It is coal from NSW fueling the climate crisis - we are the home of the worlds largest coal port, and you are overseeing shipping coal out of it every day as if there is no tomorrow.
“At the same time your Government is logging our public native forests, with full knowledge we need to stop doing this as a priority. Our forests will draw down and store carbon defending us against the worst impacts of climate change.
“Has the Premier forgotten the fires and the floods here in NSW? What’s happening in the Northern Hemisphere right now is undoubtedly going to happen here and possibly in just a few months. We can’t afford to protect the interests of fossil fuel corporations over our communities and the environment any longer, but it seems that is what the Minns Government is doing.
“The Minister for Climate Change has not yet provided the road map to net zero. If this Government thinks that legislating a net zero target by 2050 and 50% by 2030 will cut it, they’re wrong. Science is telling us we need to do more to avoid the worst impacts and to keep us below 2 degrees.
“While we’re watching what's going on across the world, the NSW Government is logging our native forests and steering us further and further toward climate catastrophe.
“People in the community are scared. Young people are being left a mess to clean up that may well be irreparable. The Government is locking them up for protesting instead of showing leadership. It’s alarming and irresponsible.
“We must keep our coal and gas in the ground, end the logging of our native forests immediately and regenerate our landscapes.
“The planet is boiling. It is not too late for the NSW Government to wake up and do the right thing.” Ms Higginson said.
For media comment contact Sue Higginson on 0428 227 363