Gecko is committed to action on climate change at a local level. Our Campaigns Sub-Committee meets each fortnight to discuss the issue and ways that we can make a difference. View our climate change policy. You can also visit Skeptical Science website for more clarification on the subject.
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Peoples Climate March 28th November 2015
Posted on October 27, 2015 by Vicky
The crucial Peoples Climate March will be happening in Brisbane AT 9.30 am on SATURDAY 28th NOVEMBER and we want you to be part of it. egister here for the People’s and let Gecko know you are going so we know how many Gold Coasters are going by emailing Lois Levy [email protected] or 5534 1412. Join us on the 7.40am train from Varsity lakes or any other station on the way. Gold Coasters will have their own banner and will meet in Queens Park under a gold Bali Flag.(Corner of Elizabeth street and George Street in the CBD. )
TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO COME AND JOIN US
• The Peoples Climate March is part of the biggest mobilisation of people around the world in the lead up to the international talks in Paris in December.
• At the Paris talks leaders of all nations will gather to set targets of our countries to reduce greenhouse gases so that we and future generations have a chance to live in a habitable world.
• The Peoples Climate Marches around Australia will be to demand that Australia does its fair share in reducing greenhouse gases and begins the transition from a fossil fuel economy to one based on renewable energy.
• Climate destabilisation affects everyone and it is essential that we move to a future for jobs in renewables and the protection of the most vulnerable from extreme weather events.
Peoples Climate March: Posted in Campaigns, Climate Change.
The People’s Climate March makes history
Posted on September 30, 2014 by Karen Moores
It has been called the largest ever climate march in history and it was a huge success globally. Seven Gecko members attended the march in Brisbane on the 21 September 2014. Here is a video recap of the response Australia wide and overseas. Thanks to Get Up for this great piece of recorded history!
Posted in Climate Change
National Climate Day Picnic
Posted on November 18, 2013 by barry
Hundreds of all ages, dressed in red and yellow, gathered at Burleigh Beach on Sunday 17 November to speak out about their strong belief that more needs to be done on climate change. Many speakers addressed the passionate crowd about the effects of a hot climate. These included representatives from Gecko, Australian Youth Climate Coalition, GetUp. Surfrider Foundation, Sea Shepherd, the Labor party and the Greens as well as individuals who had come along to lend their voice. The highlight of the morning was the massing of the group on the beach for photographs chanting “climate action now” with placards. This created quite a bit of interest to the patrons of the café and surf club. Lots of posters, signs, placards and bright red and orange colours lit up the park and the beach, letting all know who was there that we won’t be ignored. NBN TV finally turned up, but the media were generally conspicuous by their absence.
Gecko gathered hundreds of signatures for a letter to the Prime Minister demanding more effective action on climate change. These will be sent off at the end of the month with a covering letter. We gained quite a few new members, donations and many more interested in hearing from from Gecko about climate change. An added bonus was more signatures on the Save Our Spit petition. The groups involved will be forming a Gold Coast climate alliance to make our efforts more effective and a meeting will get this underway in January. A great day!
Posted in Climate Change
Summary of Climate Action Summit 22 June 2013
Posted on July 15, 2013 by Karen Moores
THE FIFTH AUSTRALIAN CLIMATE ACTION SUMMIT CALLS FOR GOVERNMENTS AND FEDERAL ELECTION CANDIDATES TO SUPPORT URGENT ACTION TO AVERT DANGEROUS CLIMATE CHANGE
About 400 people including scientists, health professionals, politicians, representatives from about 100 climate groups across Australia, and other concerned members of the public attended this weekend’s Climate Action Summit in Sydney. They heard reports all confirming that the climate science is real and that urgent action needs to be taken now to limit dangerous climate change. The conference acknowledged that the earth is already too hot and our carbon budget for a safe climate is zero. We need 100% renewable energy and all fossil fuels to stay in the ground. If all levels of government along with governments of other leading polluting nations do not move with emergency speed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, billions of people’s lives are at risk.
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Statement of Commitment on Climate Change
Posted on June 4, 2013 by
In addition to a growing number of scientists, ecologists, environmentalists and concerned professionals from a variety of fields, there is now an initiative from health professionals, academics, researchers, and public health advocates who are deeply concerned with threats from climate change to our children and future generations. Their statement is : “Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.” They urge immediate and effective action from Australia’s business and community leaders and Australian public have launched a website athttp://www.aracy.org.au/projects/statement-of-commitment-on-climate-change.. Gecko has signed the Statement of Commitment on Climate Change and we urge you to visit their website and add your name to the growing list of supporters. The Statement of Commitment is:
We acknowledge the scientific consensus regarding the existence of climate change and the substantial contribution the human population is now making to this via our greenhouse gas emissions. We also acknowledge that climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century and that current Australian and international carbon reduction commitments are nowhere near enough to avoid this threat. Despite the urgent need for steep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to avoid dangerous climate change, the level of global emissions continues to increase. The threat to our children and future generations grows larger with every passing year. The current generations of adults have a responsibility to do everything we possibly can to protect the children of today and tomorrow from dangerous climate change. Hence it is of utmost importance that climate change is included as an urgent priority area for advocacy, research, policy and practice.
For the sake of our children and future generations we make the commitment to:
• Show leadership in our workplaces and in our communities by advocating climate action consistent with the science.
• Reduce our carbon footprint (e.g., by reducing energy use and increasing energy efficiency, switching to renewable energy, reducing waste, reducing personal transport emissions, purchasing carbon offsets for electricity and gas use and transport, including air travel, and monitoring the carbon footprint of suppliers).
• Measure our performance against defined targets and seek to constantly reduce our environmental footprint.
• Incorporate considerations regarding climate change into our decision making processes. That is, when we are making decisions we will do so in way that recognises whether we are increasing or decreasing our greenhouse gas emissions.
• Work to increase awareness of the threat that climate change poses to the health and wellbeing of our children and future generations and create opportunities for behaviour change to reduce this threat.
• Strive to ensure that our financial investments are not contributing to the threat by divesting ourselves and our organisation of investments in carbon intensive and environmentally destructive activities and industries.
• Conduct and/or advocate high quality research into the current and future effects of climate change on child health and wellbeing.
• Take the findings of existing research and translate these into policy and practice that will adequately protect our children and future generations from dangerous climate change and to advocate for their implementation.
Posted in Climate Change: The Real Science about Climate Change
Posted on April 12, 2013 by
Confused about Climate Change? Wondering whether there is some truth to the denialist arguments? Visit the highly respected website Skeptical Science and explore the myths surrounding the threats our planet faces from the accumulation of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Topical issues are explored by scientists actively working in the field, not armchair bloggers with no scientific credentials. The site examines many popular myths doing the rounds, the aim of which is to preventing meaningful action to address Climate Change. Rational scientific explanations are offered with discussion ranging from easy to understand concepts for the novice to more complex language for those with a higher level of scientific expertise. The site is run by John Cook, winner of the 2011 Eureka Prize from the Australian Museum, in recognition of the Advancement of Scientific Knowledge.
Posted in Climate Change
The Angry Summer Report from the Climate Commission
Posted on March 16, 2013 by Karen Moores
The Angry Summer of 2012/13
Extreme weather events and climate change
Over the summer of 2012/2013 Australia was hit by a series of extreme weather events, including heatwaves, bushfires, intense rainfall and flooding, that caused serious damage in many places. Read all about it in this downloadable report from the Climate Commission. Download Report
Posted in Climate Change
Federal Government Clean Energy Package
Posted on September 3, 2012 by Karen Moores
Federal Government Clean Energy Package:
The Clean Energy Package was negotiated with the Federal Government by the Greens with Senator Christine Milne as the chief negotiator. She has been on the government climate change panels since 1990 and has held the Greens Climate Change portfolio in the Senate since 2004. Under the current government climate change policies of accepting 550 parts per million of carbon dioxide there will be a rise in temperature of 3-5 degrees which is catastrophic to all species on the planet. The most vulnerable people will be the poor and marginalised, who will be forced to cope with increased temperatures and the impact on crops and biodiversity; increases in extreme weather events; loss of homelands with rising sea levels and loss of drinking water with the disappearance of glaciers. The Clean Energy package has the potential to reduceAustralia’s greenhouse emissions, protect biodiversity, provide an income to farmers and provide employment for Indigenous people in the outback. The package is accompanied by compensation for rising prices, for which most Australians and small businesses will be eligible.
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Posted in Climate Change
Transition Update Three
Posted on September 3, 2012 by Karen Moores
Transition Update Three
By Rod Weir
“If a significant petroleum crunch occurs, as is very likely, that will concentrate minds wonderfully. We are so extremely dependant on petroleum, any significant increase in scarcity or price will surely jolt people into the realization that radically different social arrangements will be turned to. Without petrol, it will be glaringly obvious that only localized economies make sense.” Ted Trainer, Renewable Energy Cannot Sustain a Consumer Society, Springer Verlag, 2007 The above statement is the reason for Transition Towns. Renewable energy will save our planet from the ravages of Climate Change, but it will never replace oil. We need a different way of life to do that. In the context of a 5000 year span, not long in the context of world history, the oil age will cover less than 200 years, a mere blip. For tens of thousands of years before, mankind survived without oil, and will need to do so in the future.
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Posted in Climate Change
Beyond Zero Emissions and the Clean Energy Package
Posted on September 3, 2012 by Karen Moores
Beyond Zero Emissions and Clean Energy Package
By Lois Levy
Recently two public presentations were made on the Gold Coast about responses to climate change which can change the way Australians think about energy supply and substantially reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The first presentation was by Ed Parker from Beyond Zero Emissions about their plan forAustraliato supply its energy needs entirely from renewable energy. The second was by Senator Christine Milne who outlined the components of the Clean Energy Package which is an essential part of the Federal Government carbon tax and incentives scheme legislation which recently passed the Lower House and will go to the Upper House shortly.