our charter

In rebuilding our economy following the global COVID-19 pandemic, and Australia’s horrifying Black Summer before that, we recognise that:

The paramount duty of government is to protect its citizens from grave threats

Rapidly accelerating anthropogenic climate change threatens the very future of human civilisation and the ecosystems upon which all life depends

Urgent action is required to avoid further damage and to restore healthy ecosystems (forests, rivers, oceans – all natural habitats)

Financed through an ambitious Green New Deal model, the necessary action will require society-wide mobilisation of resources at a scale and speed never before seen in peacetime.

The steps required to address the climate and extinction emergency, as well as dangerous levels of inequality include:

The rapid phase out of all fossil fuel extraction and combustion as well as petrochemical usage
Urgent reduction of Australia’s carbon emissions to zero coupled with site-specific natural climate solutions (regenerative farming, re-afforestation, re-vegetation and soil biomass building projects) guided by best available science
The use of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) inspired Green New Deal finance models to foster collaborative, socially just partnerships with local communities on a mass scale to draw down the excess carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere. According to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report, this needs to happen by 2030.
An urgent transition to 100 per cent renewable energy across all sectors of the economy
An immediate end to all natural deforestation and habitat destruction
An end to the profligate waste of resources via mandatory standards which ensure high energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture, manufacturing, recycling, transport and waste management.

To be fair and effective, Climate Emergency policy frameworks must acknowledge that:
disadvantaged developing nations have done little to contribute to the climate crisis and should not be bearing the greatest burden
people displaced by climate chaos must be properly recognised as climate refugees and therefore are entitled to the protections that refugee status affords
as a nation that has accumulated wealth from ecocidal activities, Australia should provide disadvantaged developing nations with fair assistance to implement the changes required and to cope with the impacts of the climate emergency
to ensure that fossil fuels remain in the ground, absolute caps on fossil fuel extraction and combustion are urgently needed
polluters are responsible for the true costs of their pollution
an end to all subsidies that support fossil fuel extraction and use, as well as pollution intensive agriculture, manufacturing and transport, and natural habitat destruction is urgently needed
effective carbon monitoring and legally binding enforcement mechanisms are essential
carefully tailored just transition programs to support and retrain all workers who are impacted by the necessary changes are essential
the rapid creation of a substantial sustainability fund via an equitable levy to assist disadvantaged developing nations to make the necessary changes and to cope with natural disasters is fair and reasonable
a requirement that all Australian commercial lenders make at least 20 per cent of their loans in the form of micro financing for community-driven ecologically and socially sustainable projects would deliver better community and environmental outcomes
the immediate amendment of all free trade agreement ISDS clauses to ensure that the above measures cannot be compromised

Our charter has informed many submissions to government inquiries. We are also inspired by The Leap movement and signatories of its manifesto: a bold and determined call for fair and sustainable economies based on caring for the Earth and one another.

In advancing our cause, we collaborate with climate, environment and social justice organisations large and small, and are always keen to connect with caring individuals.