Australian climate has been adversely changing
Introduction
Australian climate has been adversely changing since the beginning of the 21st century. As per the report released by various climate and environmental agencies, the change is fast shifting from ad state to worse state and warns that if stunt actions and campaigns will not be put in place then Australian climate would be an inhabitable environment in the ne 50 years (Rosewarne et al, 2015). CSIRO in 2013 reported that climate conditions in most Australian cities continue to become hotter and that the trend would continue to rise and experience more extreme heat and longer fire seasons. These were not mere reports but rather facts that were supported by metrological statistics and data. The cause of these drastic climatic changes in Australia is primarily the increased human activities that include increased logging in Australian forests, increased industrialization in major cities of Australia, and unprecedented clearing of Australian vegetation for settlement across Australia. The establishment of more industries and industrial parks across the country has Moreton Islandresulted in to release of more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere depleting the ozone layer thus increasing global warming within the country. And increased clearing 0of vegetation for settlement and logging activities on forests has lowered the carbon circulation thus increasing greenhouse gas in the environment (Salmon, 2019). These reports triggered activism and environmental campaigns among students across Australia to advocate for environmental conservation actions and measures to help the country achieve favorable and sustainable climate conditions
The campaign
Students strike has been an ongoing campaign across all cities of Australia advocating for better climate conditions and a conducive learning environment. Students have taken it to themselves to push for better actions to ensure that their future safety is guaranteed through regulating activities perceived to be jeopardizing the future conditions of the Australian climate. It all started a while back when a teenager, Shianne. Who had felt the first-degree effect of adverse climate conditions in their neighborhood, New South Wales. Their family home and thousand others had been completely been burned down by the bush fire that was believed to have been caused due to adverse climate conditions of the state (Slee, 2019). Her action of protesting outside liberty party headquarters, telling Morrison Scott that thoughts and messages of empathy were not enough but rather action to curb and prevent the future occurrence of such would be best for the future generation and other hundreds and thousands of families who were at threat of the bushfire. She added that the government’s inaction or dormancy on climate issues as the greatest supercharge to bushfires witnessed in Australia.
A similar scenario was also witnessed at the party’s headquarters in Sydney where groups of students gathered to protest to the government outlining the suffering their community has been through due to devastating effects of high temperature and adverse climate conditions yet summer had not approached yet. The activism developed on an international day of climate strike. Other groups of students also conducted a demonstration and protest outside mining companies in the Australian headquarters in Melbourne (Tytler, 2017). Later various university students convened and formed The University Students for Climate Justice. Then the climate justice group organized and conducted a three days mega protest at the international mining conference organized at Melbourne to protest the increased mining activities by local and international mining companies across Australia contributing largely to the deterioration of climate conditions within the country (Komlos, 2019).
The key players and stakeholders in the campaign
Since it is initiation, the campaign has spread far and wide all over towns in Australia, with students in every town organizing themselves into groups and protesting against the adverse effects of climate changes and the silence and inaction of the government officials towards the same. The main player in students’ climate change campaigns is the students from high school, middle colleges, and institutions of higher learning such as colleges and universities across Australia (Enson, 2019). Through University students for Climate Justice, they have managed to conduct a number of protests and peaceful activism on the essence of having a sustainable climate in Australia and in the entire globe.
Being that the main aim and mission of the campaign and protests are purely on environmental and climate issues; the student’s campaign has since then had strong and solid support from affiliate organizations with the same missions. Climate Action Network Australia (CANA) has been one of the key players in the forefront in helping students express their concerns regarding climate change. The CANA movement is an international organization and it has been in Australia for quite a while championing for better environment and climate actions within the country with the aim of reducing the rate of ozone depletion and subsequently reduces the effects of global warming (Doyle et al, 2015). The student’s climate strike was joined by the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) as they acknowledged the adverse impacts and threats that drastic climate change impose to the lives of hundreds of thousand youths not only in Australia but in the entire globe. Hence have been at the forefront every time students organize a climate strike to demand quick action by the government and other mining companies to moderate and control the greenhouse gas emission into the atmosphere.
In the last two years, the campaign has gained overwhelming support from different environmental and climate organizations across the country to help them push their agenda forward and not to relent until proper actions are put in place by government and other involved parties to help in solving the climate stalemate in the country (Price, and Adrewartha, 2018). These organizations include Get-up, an independent grass-roots community advocacy organization that majors on sensitizing Australians to get involved in how the county is governed and holding politicians accountable. The support from World Vision Australia has been of help in financial support to the campaign a well.
Government and owners various private companies are also stakeholders in this campaign since they are defensive and these protests and campaigns are directed towards them. They determine how long these protests will last. When the government decides to formulate action plans that would help reduce the emission of hydrocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons into the atmosphere and setting out laws and rules that govern industrial operations in the country then protest will subsequently end as the mission being fulfilled.
Scope of the student climate strike and issues framing
In the history of Australian campaigns, student climate strike has been one of the most peaceful protests ever conducted in Australia, with no trace of violence. This has boosted the relevance of the campaign mission. Every year, the movement receives an additional number of stakeholders joining the course. The scope of protest in well-organized throughout the country by institutions in different cities and the main function or major protest being in September every year on international climate day, with over 300,000 Australians participating in the climate protests in framing the climate issues affecting their well-being (Whelan, 2020). Some of the pertinent issues raised by protesters over the past protests are the adoption of 100 percent renewable energy generations and exports in Australia; they also highlight their stand on no creation of any new gas, oil or coal projects in the country to as the initial step of reducing the release of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. Most pertinent to the economy and well-being of citizens being the advocacy of a just transition and alternative jobs for those working in fossil fuel industries before shutting these companies down. the campaign has been successful in addressing national climatic issues, natural deterioration and reduction of wildfires on Australian forests.
The success of the campaign so far
Since the beginning of the campaign about a couple of years ago, there has been a tremendous success and positive outcomes of the protest. Students have managed to conduct several protests all over the country. The recent being that more than 3000 Australian business enterprises had acknowledged the movement and allowed their employees to participate in the match. The business owners joined the league of stakeholders as they mark the international climate awareness day as ‘Not Business as Usual’. The number of protesters has significantly increased as recently hundreds of thousands of students and citizens of goodwill in the movement. The government has put on hold any establishment of any new coal project in the country (Rootes, 2018).
The government has initiated several projects on renewable energy production across the country and to encourage technologies to develop innovative ways of using naturally available resources to generate equivalent electric supply needed to run major sectors of the Australian economy. Through these campaigns, the government has established a rapid response and emergency team to act promptly to curb any outbreak of wildfire or bushfire in the country. The manufacturing sector too has implemented and boosted their effluent treatment methods to ensure that only treated effluents and non-toxic gases are released into the atmosphere thus reducing the impacts of global warming in the region.
Conclusion
Climate hostility affects human daily operations thus lowering the individual’s output rate. Adverse climate conditions are as a result of drastic changes in environment patterns and weather conditions. Australian climate situation has been in the move for worse as its conditions scaling from bad to worse conditions. from reports analyzed, it quite evident that these adverse conditions experienced in Australia are greatly caused by human daily activities, exercise industrial emission of toxic gases into atmosphere and government reluctant on imposing stunt rules and actions against environment degradations. The trend poses a threat to the certainty of the future generation thus students have taken initiative to protest all over the streets of Australia to ring to the government attention the adversities of climate change.
This report has expression details the most recent and still ongoing campaign known as a student climate strike organized by students themselves all over the country. Since its beginning, these campaign movements have attracted many interested parties and stakeholders that hold similar missions like that of the student movement for a better and sustainable environment and climate in Australia. Organizations such a CANA, Get-Up among others have been of great support to the student’s movement in helping them further their noble agenda. The stakeholders to the campaign include students, teachers, parents, cooperate and business community, and the government and private owners of companies being the main addressed parties.
The success of the campaign has been tremendous and overwhelming at all angles. The government has since then put to stop the commissioning and establishment of any new coal projects in the country as its efforts to reduce the release of greenhouse gas effects to the countries atmosphere. The commencement of the installation of renewable energy generation plants in the country is a great milestone attributed to the campaign. The establishment of rapid response and emergency team to counter any event of wildfire and bushfire is also no mean achievement of the movement. The student body has since then been uploaded for the relentless campaign they have been conducting across cities of Australia and the fact that they have managed to conduct it in a peaceful manner.
References
Doyle, T., McEachern, D., and MacGregor, S., 2015. Environment and politics. Routledge.
Enson, S., 2019. Climate change and the impact on young people: Part two. British Journal of School Nursing, 14(10), pp.501-506.
Komlos, R., 2019. Justice for the Dungay campaign takes over Kempsey. Green Left Weekly, (1232), p.7.
Price, S., and Adrewartha, J., 2018. Students of Sustainability conference. Green Left Weekly, (1061), p.4.
Rootes, C., 2018. Climate change, environmental activism, and community action in Britain. Social Alternatives, 31(1), p.24.
Rosewarne, S., Goodman, J., and Pearse, R., 2015. Climate action upsurge: The ethnography of climate movement politics. Routledge.
Salmon, A., 2019. Unions join students’ call to strike for real climate action.
Slee, C., 2019. Tamil family must be allowed to stay. Green Left Weekly, (1235), p.6.
Tytler, R., 2017. Re-imagining science education: Engaging students in science for Australia’s future.
Whelan, J., 2020. Learning to save the world: Observations of training for effective advocacy in the Australian environment movement. Convergence, 33(4), p.62.