Climate action: way too little, way too late

March 1, 2024

Way too little way too late: Gregory Andrews words capture the essence of the climate action that weve seen from successive governments. This Labor government plays to both sides - assuring us, through Chris Bowen, that they are determined to do all that they can while simultaneously, through Madelaine King, waving through a steady stream of new, sometimes huge, fossil fuel projects to placate the fossil fuel industry. The climate science has been clear for many years. Forecasts made on the basis of that science have proved to be conservative: change is coming faster, and to a greater extent, than expected. Our icecaps are shrinking; fires and floods become more frequent and more intense. Agreement at the 2015 Paris COP aspired to restrict temperature increases to no more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels; this target was exceeded in 2023. Every year that passes sees the scale of the climate problem increase, so the restorative action we need each year is greater that we had needed before. We are seeing positive climate initiatives, but their implementation is always cautious and slow, and compromised by continuing approval of new fossil fuel projects. As Andrews says: way too little, way too late.