Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Climate risk is escalating and costing our communities, and 1.5 degrees is not a goal or a target. It is an important threshold. Scientists around the globe have identified it as the point beyond which climate risk will accelerate, impacting every aspect of our economy, environment and communities.

The government is not doing all it can to mitigate the worst effects of climate change and mitigate that risk. It continues to approve extension of coal and gas projects well beyond 2050. We need diligent measuring and monitoring of all emissions, in particular methane emanating from extraction and gas that is transported, including from open coalmines. Methane traps more heat in the atmosphere per molecule than CO2, making it 80 times more harmful than CO2 for 20 years after it's released.

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