Welcome to Friends of the Earth Melbourne October news. Join a Nuclear no climate solution online forum, Offshore wind webinar, count-down to COP26, Climate Impacts at Work Survey launch, download Chain Reaction magazine and poster newsletter, plus more! Action is the antidote to despair.
Nuclear: No Climate Solution
In this online forum, we will discuss the reasons why nuclear power is not the 'green' solution to climate change it's presented to be. The nuclear industry, with the help of the Murdoch media, has been staging an aggressive pro-nuclear campaign ahead of the COP26 climate summit. We are kickstarting the fight back with an online event featuring a wonderful panel of speakers with a wealth of experience fighting radioactive racism. Speakers: Uncle Kevin Buzzacott, Arabunna Elder who has been working over 30 years to highlight the impacts of uranium mining, Scott Ludlam, former Australian Greens Senator, anti-nuclear and climate activist, and Mia Pepper, nuclear researcher and expert. No prior knowledge or experience needed. Please join us to explore this important issue.
Nuclear: No Climate Solution online forum is brought to you by Friends of the Earth's Nuclear Free Collective in collaboration with Blockade IMARC and starts at 7pm Melbourne time, 21 October 2021. Please join us! RSVP here
Act on Climate update: Countdown to COP26
The critically-important COP26 climate summit is just less than a month away and Prime Minister Scott Morrison is in the hot seat.
Pressure from global leaders and the climate movement has shifted the debate from 'net-zero' by 2050 to what cuts must be delivered this decade. Will the PM listen to the community and take a strong target to the summit? Or will he stick with the weak target set by Tony Abbott over half-a-decade ago? We'll soon find out.
On Friday 1 October, hundreds of community members from across the country took to social media to demand Scott Morrison match the United States and United Kingdom's 2030 climate targets for COP26. Their commitments to cut emissions by 50-63 percent this decade overshadows Australia's embarrassing 26-28 percent cut. Read more here.
Click here to take a look at the Day of Action photo gallery (and here for the Facebook gallery).
WEBINAR: Australia's Opportunity in Offshore Wind
Offshore wind is helping governments deliver deep emissions cuts, create thousands of jobs, and drive the a clean recovery in the United Kingdom and European Union. But will Australia seize the offshore wind opportunity? What will it take to establish the job-rich industry here in our country?
WATCH: Australia's Offshore Wind Opportunity webinar
The panel features special guest speakers Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes, Penny Howard, Research Officer, Maritime Union of Australia, Tony Wolfe, Loy Yang coal power station worker and Tom Quinn, Head of Policy and Research, Beyond Zero Emissions.
Join the Yes2Renewables Twitter team here
LAUNCH: Climate Impacts at Work Survey
Join Friends of the Earth, Victorian Trades Hall, and union members for the launch of the Climate Impacts at Work survey project 27 October 2021 at 6:30pm - 7:45pm Melbourne time via Zoom RSVP here
Tackling the climate crisis in a socially just way means putting workers’ rights at the core of solutions. With both outdoor and indoor workers in a diversity of sectors already on the front lines of climate impacts in Victoria, there is work to be done to bring a broader sphere of workers into the conversation about how to respond. Friends of the Earth is collaborating with several unions to kick off a major surveying effort of rank-and-file members—from hospo workers, to train drivers, to office workers. The survey is co-designed by Friends of the Earth, union organisers, and RMIT University social researchers.
Speakers: Anna Langford and Cam Walker, Friends of the Earth Melbourne, Sasha King, frontline nurse and Australian Nurses and Midwives Federation union member, Colin Long, Victorian Trades Hall and Godfrey Moase, United Workers Union. Full details here.
Offshore gas levy will protect oceans and communities
With the federal government continuing to push it’s ‘gas led recovery’ agenda, their support for the fossil fuel industry remains a major blockage to Australia taking meaningful action on climate change. In the lead up to the climate negotiations in Scotland, the federal government is under ever greater pressure to deliver a meaningful set of climate commitments before the meeting. It is only reasonable that the transnationals pay to clean up the mess from their very profitable activities. Read more here.
Take action: if you would like to see the temporary levy made permanent, sign the Gas Levy petition to the PM here.
Living with fire in the Pyrocene
Fire has played a pivotal role in almost all landscapes across Australia for millions of years. The continent of Australia is a cultural and natural landscape: it has been shaped by First Nations peoples for many hundreds of generations. Colonisation disrupted this long management and now settler society is trying to understand how fire should be used in the landscape to manage it for biodiversity, asset protection, and human safety. As we head into the warmer months, we will explore some of the issues at play as we, as a society, grapple with how to respond to and manage fire in a time of climate change. Full details here.
New Strzelecki Koala Survey Report released
Latest survey results suggest that koala numbers could be up to ten times less in surveyed forests, than the best remaining koala habitat in the Strzelecki Ranges. Surveys for the year concentrated in previously unsurveyed forests east of the Strzelecki's, mainly at Won Wron State Forest and Mullungdung State Forest. Full details and koala survey here.
Click & Collect with the Food Co-op
Join the Food Co-op & Cafe here
Download Spring 2021 Chain Reaction magazine
Petition: Eco-Friendly Periods 4 Vic Schools
In 2020, the Victorian government began providing free tampons and pads to students in all state schools. A science teacher and her students are calling on the government to provide students with the option of sustainable sanitary products. Full details here.
Download Spring newsletter and poster: action is the antidote to despair
Become a Friends of the Earth volunteer
Organising with us is a fun and rewarding way to get involved in organising for environmental and social justice. Register here.
Strategy meeting of groups campaigning against gold mining
With a growing number of local groups across Victoria opposing plans for gold exploration and mining, Friends of the Earth is helping to organise a state-wide gathering of campaigners to discuss strategies. All active local groups are invited to attend. It will happen in November 2021. The meeting will happen via zoom on a Sunday in November. Full details here. If you or your group would like to be involved, please get in touch: [email protected]
Friends of the Earth Melbourne AGM 2021
We will host the AGM via Zoom 18 November 2021 at 6:00pm - 7:30pm Melbourne time to ensure that we remain compliant with the enduring COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings. We hope that you will join us as we report back on another year of grassroots activism during an ongoing global pandemic. Our network has continued to flourish and continues to MOBILISE, RESIST and TRANSFORM despite the many challenges! Full details here.
Keynote Speaker : Sharon Ford – Original Power
Please note this is a members only event - click here to find out more about Membership at Friends of the Earth Melbourne
LISTEN: Dirt Radio audio episodes: Offshore wind, koalas & transport