Thanks to tireless community campaigning, Victoria is on the cusp of long overdue transition away from fossil fuels and extractive industries. There is a critical need for governments to support communities as we confront challenges of economic transition, recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate upheaval. The time has come for governments to take new approaches to maintain peoples’ dignity and wellbeing in a time of instability, keep Victorians above the poverty line, and remove political and practical barriers to transitioning.
Right now, the state’s own climate strategy acknowledges a 15% emissions shortfall for their 2030 targets. There is an urgent need to close this gap, drive down emissions, and ensure liveable outcomes for community, environment, and climate.
That’s why, In the lead up to the Victorian election this November, we will be calling for justice to be at the centre of climate solutions; ensuring that transitions away from coal, gas and native forest logging are managed to deliver positive outcomes for impacted communities and ensure the renewable energy boom adheres to best practice renewable energy development for people and the planet.
I knew I wanted to be active in the fight for real climate action, and I wanted to do it in a way that took into consideration workers rights and gender justice. But more importantly, I wanted to be part of a community. Friends of the Earth is a wide reaching community of people who care not only about the planet, but also about each other.
Jarred - Act on Climate Coordinator
By making a tax-deductible donation before June 30, you’ll be supporting Friends of the Earth’s work alongside people from the city to country who are committed to a future in which we can all thrive.
One of the strengths of Friends of the Earth’s approach is getting out to regional Victoria and organising alongside leaders in these communties who are championing community-led solutions to the challenges they face every day, like Wendy, who has for many years been a champion of just solutions for the Latrobe Valley as they move through the transition away from coal.
As a person born in Yallourn, I would never have thought of Friends of the Earth as someone I would be working with. After joining the team, I know I couldn’t have found a better fit. Being a part of the FOE team, I have the opportunity to work closer with communities on the ground across Gippsland throughout the energy transition. We all have the opportunities to create change and together we are stronger than ever.
Wendy - Yes2Renewables Coordinator in Gippsland
By supporting us with a tax-deductible donation, you'll help us facilitate kitchen table conversations in the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland to understand the community's hopes and vision for what sensible offshore wind development looks like, while seeking to secure cross-party support for offshore wind in parliament.
A just transition must eliminate reliance on all fossil fuels, while ensuring energy security for all Victorians.
When the Victorian Government releases its Gas Substitution Roadmap later in 2022. It will outline either a fast or slow pathway to ending use of gas. Friends of the Earth is working with grassroots groups and communities from across the state to produce a ‘Community Roadmap’, a visionary alternative created in response to the Victorian Government's Roadmap, outline the urgent transition we need, and doesn't leave anyone behind.
Friends of the Earth Melbourne has had some amazing results campaigning successfully to ban fracking in Victoria and now we aim to put the case for Victoria, the heaviest gas user in the country to become the first totally gas free state in Australia As long as there are new gas projects proposed, the community will resist them! We will continue to work alongside frontline communities to organise public actions, events and mobilisations to stop new offshore gas exploration or drilling in pristine ocean environments and agricultural food bowls.
Freja - No More Gas Coordinator
From 2011 to 2016, Friends of the Earth activists worked deeply with rural, farming and regional communities to win the first ever permanent ban on the process of fracking in Australia. Together, we were able to demonstrate the community’s desire to see land, water and climate protected from invasive fossil gas drilling. The ban on fracking is now enshrined in the Victorian constitution.