In less than two months, the Andrews government will make its decision on the state’s first Emissions Reduction Targets for 2025 and ’30. And we’re not wasting a minute calling for ambition. 

The summer bushfires and the impact they’ve had on communities, responders, wildlife and the natural world remind us what’s at stake if we fail to tackle the climate crisis.

Here’s a quick update on our efforts over the last month...

The Federal Coalition’s last-ditch attempt to hit the reset button on climate change has been a flop with several dozen community members appearing at a snap rally at the Prime Minister’s press conference in Melbourne this morning.

“The Coalition has failed to review the science and adopt measures that are commensurate with the scale and urgency of the climate crisis,” said Leigh Ewbank, FoE climate spokesperson.

“An Emissions Reduction Fund that fails to keep coal, oil, and gas in the ground is a hoax.”

Friends of the Earth says the Coalition’s record of undermining action on climate change is not easily forgotten by the community.

“If the Coalition wants to be taken seriously on climate change it would apologise to the Australian people for actively undermining action since it formed government in 2013,” said Leigh Ewbank.

Environment group Friends of the Earth Australia reject indications that the Morrison government will seek to use public funds to underwrite new coal and gas projects, and say they should be 100% focused on landmark renewable energy projects like the proposed Star of the South offshore wind farm instead.

“Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the federal Coalition have learned nothing from the Liberal party's drubbing in the recent Victorian state election” said Friends of the Earth climate spokesperson Leigh Ewbank.

The Liberal party's support for coal and gas was resoundingly rejected by voters in at the Wentworth by-election and at the November state election in Victoria.

“When community support for action on climate change is on the rise, the Coalition government's support for polluting fossil fuels will go down like a lead balloon” added Ewbank.

While time is running out to act on climate change, the Coalition's obsession with coal and gas only imperils Australia's future.

On Saturday 10 November, around 100 community members have formed a human sign in the shape of the Liberal Party logo on St Kilda Beach to mock Matthew Guy and the opposition’s head-in-the-sand approach to climate change by doing just that: putting their heads in the sand.

Community members concerned about climate change are deeply frustrated that the opposition has failed to deliver a climate policy, with Victoria less then two weeks away from a state election.

"Despite having had four years to come up with a comprehensive policy, Matthew Guy and the Liberal opposition have no plan to rein in emissions and protect Victorian communities from climate impacts if elected on November 24," said Act on Climate spokesperson Anna Langford.

Originally published at RenewEconomy.

Victoria will go to the polls in a month and the Liberal National Party opposition, led by Matthew Guy, has failed to release a comprehensive climate change policy.

Pressure is mounting on Matthew Guy to show he takes climate change seriously.

Activists in detective costumes have staged actions to search for Matthew Guy’s missing climate policy. In the blue-ribbon seats of Hawthorn and Kew, the Lighter Footprints community group is organising a town hall meeting (featuring Oliver Yates) on the need for climate action.

And then there’s the Wentworth by-election result where the Liberal party suffered a record swing against it.

While Wentworth voters were clearly upset at the Federal Coalition’s leadership turmoil and had a strong independent candidate to vote for, exit polling commissioned by the Australia Institute found that the Liberal party’s primary vote collapsed as a result of inaction on climate change and support for coal.

The same dynamic could play out in Victoria. The opposition’s failure to engage with climate change leaves it exposed.

The Act on Climate collective and community members took the case for climate action to the Victorian Parliament on World Environment Day 2018—presenting the government, opposition, and the Greens with a community statement calling for leadership.

The statement calls for party leaders—Premier Daniel Andrews, Opposition Leader Matthew Guy, and Samantha Ratnam (Greens)—to consider the community's views and provide a response. 

A few weeks earlier, on April 22, over fifty community members participated in a discussion about climate impacts, brainstormed positive solutions to the issue, and formed unanimous agreement on the need for Victorian political parties to take urgent action.

The ‘crowd-sourced’ ideas formed the basis of the statement which was handed over to Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio; Minister and member for Albert Park, Martin Foley; Greens MP for Melbourne, Ellen Sandell; as well as Liberal party shadows for energy and environment, David Southwick and Nick Wakeling.

The supporters who joined us to handover the statement shared powerful testimony about their concerns regarding climate impacts with the Parliamentarians.