Social Workers for Climate Action (SW4CA) is an alliance of social work practitioners, students, educators and researchers – based at James Cook University, Qld, Australia – concerned about the impacts of climate change on human wellbeing, and committed to taking climate action. We believe that the social work profession has an ethical and moral responsibility to actively engage with the climate emergency, and that the profession has the potential to make significant contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
We are critical social workers whose unwavering commitment to ‘hope’ allows us to generate the vision and energy needed to be agents of change. As well as social workers, we are also parents, daughters, sons, neighbours, friends and partners. We share a love of our natural environment; we love days spent at the beach, walking our dogs at the park, being involved with our local sporting groups, and exploring the beauty of our Great Barrier Reef which is on our back door step. We are everyday people concerned about the state of our planet.
We are in a climate emergency – science tells us this. But make no mistake, whilst the current outlook is grim, we are not yet past the point of no return. We CAN turn this around! Bold climate action is an opportunity for our country and our profession. It will ensure our economic, social, cultural and environmental prosperity for generations to come. Ultimately, climate action protects the health and wellbeing of all Australians. For our members, collective action is our antidote to fear, overwhelm and eco-anxiety; our combined individual and collective action enables us to be part of the solution. Climate change is happening now. This is why we are taking action now.