#PROTECTOURFUTUREFROMFOSSILFUELS GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION 26 June 2021

The community joined nearly 100 community groups to #ProtectOurFutureNotGas in November 2020 in response to the Narrabri conditional approval for 850 gas wells in the Pilliga Forest, along with the Australian governments COVID gas led recovery. Australia is not alone in pursuing fossil fuels when globally we need to decarbonise. Now, join together for the #ProtectOurFutureFromFossilFuels Global Day of Action by saying #No2GasOil&Coal on 26 June 2021.

COVID SAFE ACTIONS, VIRTUAL ONLINE RALLY @ 6.30PM AEST, & PETITION

RSVP by filling in the form to your right of this information and receive an email providing further details for the online rally and petition via email under the heading of 'instructions'.

Examples of COVID Safe Actions for the Global Day of Action can be seen using the 2020 #ProtectOurFutureNotGas National Day of Action's short summary video at

https://vimeo.com/544972309

A brochure on COVID Safe Actions, co-hosting/supporting the Global Day of Action event, along with media can be found at: https://actionnetwork.org/user_files/user_files/000/055/795/original/protectourfuturefromfossilfuelsbrochure.pdf

COVID Safe Events can be livestreamed during the day and we will be providing an award for the best video uploaded to https://www.facebook.com/Protect-Our-Future-From-Fossil-Fuels-105429654747874 .

BACKGROUND

The United Nations Secretary General has stated global warming has already reached 1.2°C, while the UN IPCC 2018 special report noted that committed warming would mean no more than a 0.5°C temperature rise which means we are potentially committed to 1.7°C global warming without global strategies for necessary carbon sinks. 2020 was said to be the fourth warmest year on record, while only one of the 10 warmest years occurred before 2005.  This situation will continue to be exacerbated and harder to deal with the longer we take to decarbonise.

The United Nations (IPCC) 2018 special report also stated that we are already seeing the consequences of 1°C warming ‘through more extreme weather, rising sea levels and diminishing Arctic sea ice, among other changes’. We have already endured unprecedented bushfires and floods, heat, drought, and impacts globally on corals with multiple coral bleaching events on the renown Great Barrier Reef, at a time when one million species are at risk of extinction.

Worldwide catastrophes are increasing along with their costs, with the worlds ten worst in 2020 totalling $150bn.

The fossil fuel Industry predicted the global warming we are now seeing, as a consequence of fossil fuel combustion and deforestation, along with the substantial climatic impacts that would occur after a 1°C temperature rise. In 1982 EXXON indicated a 1.5°C rise soon after or around 2030 while in 1991 Shell promoted up to a 4°C rise by 2050 stating it was a 'change too fast perhaps for life to adapt without severe dislocation'.

A Pentagon Report authored by the Army, Defence Intelligence Agency, and NASA warned about the potential collapse of the defence force and society as we know it due to climate change.

The Australian intelligence community were discussing the potential of unregulated people movements, some areas becoming uninhabitable, some farming areas becoming unfarmable, whole regions relocating, and water wars some twenty years ago.

The 2019 UN Gap report stated that we are on a trajectory of 3.2°C global warming while the 2020 UN Gap Report explains that instead of decreasing fossil fuel production by a recommended 6% annually countries are planning to increase fossil fuel production by 120% by 2030. More than double the amount necessary to keep global warming to 1.5°C.

Countries such as Australia are promoting a COVID gas led recovery. Natural gas is not a clean transitional energy. It is a dangerous polluting fossil fuel - predominantly made of methane which has a global warming potential up to 84-86 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Developed countries are meant to lead the way dealing with the climate crisis under the Paris Agreement, to keep global warming well under 2°C while aiming for 1.5°C.

According to NASA the carbon dioxide lifespan is complex due to ocean absorption but suggest once its in the atmosphere its lifespan is 300 to 1000 years while other citations suggest more.  With climate issues remaining for the lifespan of greenhouse gases accumulating since the industrial revolution in 1750, to heights NASA explains we haven't previously dealt with since human existence began, we need to mobilise towards long term solutions for younger and future generations.

Scientists indicate that we need to protect and restore 'Earth's ecosystems. Phytoplankton, coral reefs, forests, savannas, grasslands, wetlands, peatlands, soils, mangroves, and sea grasses contribute greatly to sequestration of atmospheric CO2'.

We also need to assess and deal with potential liability into the hundreds of millions after fossil fuel ventures are decommissioned and require a clean up when an offshore owner sells to a small buyer who liquidates, and while bonds do not cover rehabilitation costs for coal mines. This is in addition to health effects and cancer clusters near fossil fuel power stations. Around 8.7 million fatalities worldwide were said to be caused by fossil fuel air pollution in 2018.

With 9 out of 15 suggested tipping points activated its time to say #No2GasOil&Coal and #ProtectOurFutureFromFossilFuel before they become irreversible.

GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION DEMANDS

Please join us to promote a renewable and GREEN jobs led recovery and not a fossil fuel one with the following global day of action demands:

1. Declare a Climate and Ecological Emergency, protect biodiversity and introduce ecocide into law;

2. Ensure that First Nations' rights to Free Prior Informed Consent, including the right to veto projects, is introduced into law;

3. Support 100% renewables and a Climate Change Act for zero emissions by 2030, renewables for schools, and a jobs plan;

4. Stop subsidising fossil fuel (gas, oil, coal) projects, prohibit fossil fuel donations to political parties and sponsorship in sports, and ban fossil fuel advertising on television and radio.

#StandTogether to say #No2GasOil&Coal to #BuildBackBetter #BeyondFossilFuels

REFERENCES:

https://www.greenpeace.org.au/research/lethal-power-how-coal-is-killing-people-in-australia/https://bze.org.au/research_release/million-jobs-plan/

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/09/fossil-fuels-pollution-deaths-research

Shell, Climate of Concern, 1991, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VOWi8oVXmo