After an absolutely full-on week for the Act On Climate team, we kick back and talk about the week's events in a more laid-back style. Halfway through the series, and the election run-up, and the nature of the campaign is starting to change. We wrap up the big events and actions AoC had planned, and executed, and note that the action now pivots to a more nimble, reactive role. Stay tuned for a lot of updates, but now, they'll be surprises!

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The Victorian election is a little over a month away and the campaign is heating up. 

While climate change is an under-reported issue at the state level, one place where it could have electoral impact is the regional seat of Macedon where leadership on renewable energy and pioneering efforts to cut emissions are visible to the community. 

The release of the IPCC's Special Report on the impacts of 1.5C of global warming has piqued the public's awareness of what's at stake if governments fail to rein in polluting oil, gas, and coal companies and drive emissions cuts across the whole economy.

The Federal Coalition's comprehensive failure to address the issue has left many in the community frustrated and angry—particularly when climate impacts such as drought and winter bushfires are becoming more and more obvious. 

With environmental organisations calling for greater leadership at the state level and communities spearheading local efforts, political parties and their candidates are expected to demonstrate climate literacy, outline their plans to cut emissions, and help communities cope with the climate impacts that are now locked in (and set to get worse). 

The transport sector is the second largest and fastest growing source of emissions. Will Australian governments take steps to rein in emissions from the aviation sector? Community climate champion, John Englart, explores.

High speed rail is being placed back on the political agenda by Moreland Council arising from the problem of growth in aviation emissions as embedded within Melbourne Airport expansion plans, and the necessity to find alternatives to aviation emissions.

Moreland Council passed a resolution at the October Council meeting to advocate “to State and Federal Governments by writing to the Ministers for Planning, Transport and Environment as well as local Members of State and Federal parliament, that investment should be focused on the establishment of a Very Fast Train to connect Australia’s cities instead of expanding the privately-owned airports.”

The Melbourne-Sydney flight route is the second busiest domestic flight route globally.(Note 1) A high speed train service could provide a 3 hour Melbourne CBD to Sydney CBD service as a cost effective and low emissions alternative to flying.

For domestic travel in the Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane corridor High Speed Rail makes enormous sense, and could be built within a ten year period and be operational by 2030.

What role might climate change play in the upcoming state election? Peter Gardner, a community climate champion from East Gippsland, explores. The following article originally published at Peter's blog.  

Melbourne University energy hub senior adviser Simon Holmes à Court has been asking politicians and would be politicians a simple question on climate change. Some time ago he asked Liberal candidate in the Mayo by-election Georgina Downer “can you please let us know whether you accept the scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming?” More recently he has asked the same question of the Liberal candidate in the Wentworth by-election David Sharma, with, so far, no response. Simon has then publicised the response or non-response to his followers on twitter.

Following Simon’s example I decided to ask the same question to candidates in the five Gippsland electorates starting with Gippsland East. Although still 50 days from the election it soon became obvious that this was an exceedingly difficult task and that I should concentrate on Gippsland East. So far I have asked the question of the five known candidates in the electorate and all have responded.

What role might climate change impacts play in the upcoming state election? Peter Gardner, a community climate champion from East Gippsland explores. The following article originally published at Peter's blog.  

I have briefly examined the electoral prospects across Gippsland for climate candidates here. I concluded that given the right conditions all of the seats are vulnerable to strong candidates – Independents in the south and east, Labor in the west with Morwell ‘up for grabs’. Whilst the south and the east are probably safe for the Nationals conditions and the climate may go against them.

The day after the release of the latest IPCC report rattled just about everyone, Act On Climate gathered in the mezzanine above the FoE cafe. What followed was a really good, cathartic meeting. Tune in to stay up-to-date with the election climate pressure campaign, and to have some laughs with the gang. 

www.climactic.fm/aoc3 for the episode or listen below, and if you're enjoying this, please let us know, and share it around!

8 October 2018, Amsterdam and globally: Today the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change launched its Special Report on Global Warming at 1.5 degrees, Friends of the Earth International groups are mobilizing for equitable and ambitious climate action that keeps global warming below 1.5 degrees without the need for dangerous techno-fixes.

The IPCC’s new report provides evidence that governments must now heed: there are still ways to avoid runaway climate change, but only if the world acts now, and with determination—going well beyond the commitments made under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Paris Agreement.

The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released its highly-anticipated Special Report into the impacts of 1.5 degrees global warming.

The report finds climate change is already impacting communities around the world through increased severity of flooding, storms, drought and heatwaves, and that radical action is required to limit warming to well-below 1.5C.

Friends of the Earth Australia says the report is a stark wake-up call on climate change and reaffirms that all governments must undertake immediate, transformative action on climate or risk catastrophic impacts.

Great for staying up-to-date with Act on Climate leading up to the state election, episode 2 of the miniseries is now live. This is great for sharing with friends and family to get them informed about what's at stake in this election, and what Act on Climate is doing to create a safe future. In this episode we get an update from Leigh, and an excerpt of an interview with Kate, all in under ten minutes!

Act on Climate, in collaboration with Climactic, a climate change podcast that tells grassroots stories, is releasing a weekly show every Sunday until the Victorian election. Hear updates from Act on Climate, find out what's happening in the election run-up, and see where you can get involved! Check it out at www.climactic.fm or search 'Climactic' wherever you get your podcasts, including Spotify!