“The struggle against climate change must also address the struggle for a decent life”
It’s been said so many times it is almost losing it’s meaning, but climate change is an existential challenge for us all.
Over the past decade I have worked as a climate change activist in my union and through various campaigns. My personal story revolves around the changes I have seen in my job, and what that means for me as a firefighter.
A warming world creates changes to weather, and extreme changes at that. The devastating fires of 2019/2020 were a terrible example. A warm winter, drought, a run of extremely hot weather and dry lightning strikes gave us the most devastating fires in our history.
I worked those fires, and many others over the past twenty years. Fire behaviour is changing, and for me that is foremost a workplace safety issue. The kind of bushfires we face now are too big to be dealt with on the end of a hose. We have to address the root causes, and that means decarbonising our economy to stop the warming of the planet.
But there are very powerful vested interests determined to milk the status quo for every dollar they can. Taking them on requires more than just building parliamentary representation - it requires social movements capable of changing the facts on the ground.
To build a force big enough to make decarbonising not only necessary, but possible, will require buy-in from millions of people. This is why the struggle against climate change must also address the struggle for a decent life. It’s not enough to stop a coal mine - although we must do that - we have to also be building the kind of secure long term employment in new industries that can build a social base for the shift away from fossil fuels.
It’s been said there’s no jobs on a dead planet. That’s true. But without talking about jobs, without talking about social justice, we will not be able to marshal the forces required to stop the planet burning.
I see climate activism and workplace activism and community organising as different parts of a whole. Building these movements together gives us a shot at not just saving the environment, but building a better world. The Greens, with our membership spread throughout both NSW and throughout the different movements, are well placed to contribute to this, and our parliamentarians are uniquely situated to give voice to these movements.