Are you interested in being part of a climate action group in Alice Springs in 2018?

The Northern Territory Government is currently developing a Climate Change Framework to be released in 2018, however there are already concerns that the NT government is not planning to set an emissions reduction target and are accepting the premise that emissions are going to rise in the Northern Territory.

We are at a critical point in time where the window for effective climate action is closing.

Yesterday more than 15,000 scientists from around the world signed a letter 'Warning to Humanity - A Second Notice'.

The scientists state: "By failing to adequately limit population growth, reassess the role of an economy rooted in growth, reduce greenhouse gases, incentivize renewable energy, protect habitat, restore ecosystems, curb pollution, halt defaunation, and constrain invasive alien species, humanity is not taking the urgent steps needed to safeguard our imperilled biosphere."

The letter commemorates the 25th anniversary of the first "Warning to Humanity' in 1992 which was then signed by 1500 scientists. 

The second notice states that in the last 25 years: 

• The amount of fresh water available per head of population worldwide has reduced by 26%.
• The number of ocean "dead zones" - places where little can live because of pollution and oxygen starvation - has increased by 75%.
• Nearly 300 million acres of forest have been lost, mostly to make way for agricultural land.
• Global carbon emissions and average temperatures have shown continued significant increases.
• Human population has risen by 35%.
• Collectively the number of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish in the world has fallen by 29%.

Whilst we know that doom and gloom reporting does not motivate people to act, we can not escape the unavoidable facts - urgent action is required to safeguard the health of the planet into the future. We also know that more must be done than individual actions like recycling or changing your light globe. We need systemic change and it needs to be legislated and acted upon at all levels of government.

Here in the Northern Territory we have a window of opportunity to influence the Gunner Government to make a meaningful climate change policy, and we are seeking expressions of interest from community members who would like to contribute some time and energy to climate advocacy in 2018.

ALEC staff members recently met with the community group Climate Action Darwin who are keen to collaborate at a statewide level with an Alice Springs group.

Alice Springs has hosted an enthusiastic climate action group in the past, which made some significant local achievements. However different pressures saw the group dissipate.

In the last five years since then the Central Australian Frack Free Alliance and RePower Alice Springs have been effective volunteer community groups advocating for a ban on fracking and for 100% renewable energy, which are essential components of solutions to climate change. 

But we need a group who is specifically focused on climate change actions, lobbying our elected representatives to act, and helping to articulate the climate solutions for the Territory. Can you contribute some time in 2018? The first gathering will be in February 2018, at a family friendly venue. Please send expressions of interest to [email protected] and ALEC will send further information to you in the new year. 

In preparation a great resource is the Climate Council's latest report Critical Decade:2017 which spells out the urgent steps that Australia needs to take , as well as the climate solutions already in play. Another great resource can be found at http://www.drawdown.org which details 100 solutions to reverse global warming.

We're all in this together, and there's a lot of satisfaction in contributing to a pro-active group that has a shared goal. Every action counts, so please consider joining the group even if you only have a little time to offer!