MEDIA RELEASE - 3 September 2021

Stronger Climate Action Urgently Needed

The Sunshine Coast Environment Council (SCEC) says the findings in the recent IPCC 6th assessment report[1] demands urgent action is taken to address the climate emergency “This is why as the region’s peak environmental advocacy organisation, we have declared a Climate Emergency and call on local, state and federal governments to act swiftly and decisively to reduce carbon emissions in the hope that we can avert dangerous climate change.” said SCEC Coordinator, Natalie Frost. 

The report details the most recent physical understanding of the climate system and climate change, bringing together the latest advances in climate science. The report, authored by 234 people from 65 countries found that it is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere and ocean have occurred.

“The key findings of the IPCC report are dire, indicating that each of the last four decades has been successively warmer than any decade that preceded it since 1850. 

On the Sunshine Coast, the mean surface air temperature has increased by almost 1°C between 1910 and 2013. The increase in temperature is already having an impact on the region with an increase in frequency and severity of storms and bushfires” explained Ms Frost.

There is widespread community push for stronger action on climate change with a recently published review by Ironbark Sustainability[2] finding that 96% of community respondents felt climate change had impacted their local community. Polling[3] undertaken by the Australian Conservation Foundation found that 67% and 62% of voters in Fairfax and Fisher respectively believe the federal government needs to be doing more to address climate change.

“The recent polling indicates that the majority of the Sunshine Coast community want stronger climate action.  SCEC continues to work with partner organisations, individuals and the broader community on climate action projects and initiatives and we encourage everyone to get involved in climate action” said SCEC Coordinator, Natalie Frost. 

The Sunshine Coast Environment Council is the peak environmental advocacy organisation that has been working to protect and conserve the environment since 1980. For more information on how you can get involved in local climate action visit SCEC’s website – scec.org.au.

[1] IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [MassonDelmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S. L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M. I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J. B. R. Matthews, T. K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press.

[2] 2021: Ironbark Sustainability and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI Oceania).

[3] 2021: Australia’s Biggest Climate Poll, Together We Can, Australian Conservation Foundation