When climate risks are so high, short term actions matter most
Scientists say that the evidence from tipping points alone suggests that “we are in a state of planetary emergency: both the risk and urgency of the situation are acute… If damaging tipping cascades can occur and a global tipping point cannot be ruled out, then this is an existential threat to civilization”.
And they warn that we might already have lost control of whether tipping happens. That risk requires our immediate and undivided attention, because everything is at stake.
The short term matters most. Kicking the can down the road to 2050 is the wrong focus.
Hi legends and welcome to the Put Climate First page!
You’re probably wondering who we are and what we’re about, so let us not beat around the bush. We are four women who have decided to run as candidates in the upcoming Geelong Council elections in 2020.
Why? Honestly, we’re not the type of folks to do this kind of thing, but each of us reached a tipping point somewhere between May 2019 and January 2020 when thousands of people (including us) marched the Geelong streets to try and raise our concerns regarding a lack of action on climate change.
Unfortunately, it took two massive protests, devastating bushfires and 200 people in the gallery during council meetings for the council to declare a climate emergency, despite our position being backed by an incredible amount of scientific evidence.
Somewhere around this time, each of us felt somewhat disappointed in the council’s leadership, and that’s not the first time our council had made us feel like our leaders had not been an ideal reflection of who we are as a vibrant community of amazing people.
Each of us were already trying to tackle the local issues of our community by walking our talk, yet we felt that this wasn’t enough to create real changes to a system that was failing our most vulnerable.
So… here we are, running for council to make a change and fix that we feel is broken.
“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. If everyone takes that approach, we can do anything.” ~ Zali Steggall, independent member of the Australian Parliament
Climate change isn’t the only concern we have for Geelong’s future, and we each have expertise in our own different areas, but all of us align on our need for a future that brings sustainable growth, jobs, tourism and technology to our pretty city, for our families, friends and for the environment.
Please join us in our campaign to make a difference.
Please visit our candidate profile pages for more information on our individual platforms and check out our Facebook pages for campaign updates hot off the press.
