Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

The world is rapidly warming and, unless emergency action is taken, could reach 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures within the next decade, putting Australians at risk of more frequent and more intense heatwaves, fires, droughts and floods.

In fact, it poses a risk to humanity. As was commented yesterday by the IPCC and the UN Secretary-General, this is a code red for humanity. For some of us, we have been saying this and urging for action and campaigning for action for years. I personally have been campaigning for this for over 32 years with basically the same message: climate change is coming. Climate change is happening. We risk everything on our planet through our inaction on the threat of climate change, and now we are facing the reality. There are bushfires around Australia, bushfires in northern Europe, bushfires in northern America. Floods and lots of rainfall: that's been happening in my home state in Western Australia, in the south-west of WA, for decades. You can see it step down, yet what happens? There's no action. This should be a time when this place comes together and shows leadership in the face of this massive crisis, the catastrophe that we face. As a species we have threatened every species on this planet. It's not just about us, folks. This is about every species on this planet.

The IPCC's sixth assessment report is clear: climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying. Climate change and its impacts are accelerating across the planet. Unless we make immediate and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees will be beyond our reach. That goal is fast disappearing.

The report sets out five new emissions scenarios illustrating possible climate futures. It paints a terrifying picture for Australia, one that we have been warned about for years. The intensity, frequency and duration of fire weather is projected to increase throughout Australia. As global temperatures rise from 1.5 degrees to two degrees and beyond, heatwaves, floods and other extreme events will become more widespread.

If that hadn't broken my heart already, my heart would have broken when I learned about what's going to happen to our oceans. There will be a further increase in marine heatwaves and ocean acidity in Australia. This poses severe challenges for our beautiful, world-renowned marine ecosystems, including precious places like Ningaloo and Shark Bay, places that we in Western Australia hold dear to our hearts. Scientists are virtually certain that global mean sea level will continue to rise over the 21st century. Even under the most ambitious cuts to emissions, the world's oceans will probably rise between 28 and 55 centimetres, but, if emissions remain very high, seas will rise between 63 and— (Time expired)