Write to the Australian Government to stop approving fossil fuel projects

It seems like bad climate news continues to come at us, with the ocean temperatures heating up, the Super El Nino and the recently released United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Limiting Overshoot Report.

It has now been assessed that global warming exceeding 1.5°C is unavoidable. The impacts of this warming we know will be catastrophic and unfairly distributed. We will continue to see and experience sea-level rise, extreme heat, melting of glaciers, ecosystem loss, health affects, disruption of food systems and water and more.

So we're choosing not to stay in hopelessness and despair, we're getting active!

Join us in writing to our elected representatives to call on them to do all that they can to limit temperature overshoot.

Below is an easy template and some tips to make your letter your own.

We know which future we want to see. From the report it is clear that overshoot is not an argument for resignation, but for urgency.

We are calling on the Australian Government to:

• Stop approving coal and gas projects (both new or expansion projects)

Who should you send a letter or email to?

• Your Federal MP (find their details here)
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese - use this contact form
• Murray Watt (Minister for the Environment and Water): Minister.watt@dcceew.gov.au
• Chris Bowen (Minister for Climate Change and Energy): Chris.Bowen.MP@aph.gov.au

Tips on writing to your MP

• The more personal your letter, the better.
• Introduce yourself and how you relate to your community, how you are feeling and how climate change impacts you or people you know.
• Include what we are asking for in bold so it is clear (it's already in the template!)
• You can try to appeal to your elected representatives by trying to find common ground within the issue. You can see how your MP has previously voted on bills here or look at their website and social media to understand what they care about. e.g. "I am encouraged by the fact that you previous supported XXXX. This is another opportunity to show courage and respond to climate change with the necessary urgency."

LETTER/EMAIL TO YOUR MP (Template)

Name
Title
Address

Dear [NAME],

Re: WE MUST ACT NOW TO STOP APPROVING FOSSIL FUEL PROJECTS

As a woman from Australia I am deeply concerned and worried about our collective future, for now and future generations.

With the devastating floods in Nepal, the oceans temperatures hitting record highs, the impending Super El Nino, and the recently released Limiting Overshoot report from the United Nations Environment Programme which shows that the world is on track to exceed the 1.5°C warming limit set by the Paris Agreement, we must do all that we can to stop and reverse global heating. The report is a devastating read yet with swift action there is some hope to ensure a safer climate is possible.

It is imperative that the Australian Government acts immediately and urgently to stop approving any further fossil fuel projects.

The impacts of warming to our lives are disastrous. We are directly seeing these impacts in our families and communities, with fires, floods, heatwaves impacting health. Then there is the impact on cost of living. We know that many people are struggling to cool their houses, they can no longer insure their homes. In summer, our lives are changing as we can't go outside in the middle of the day due to heat. Not to mention the loss of biodiversity due to changes in temperature and the water cycle. The number of direct consequences is too long to list.

[Here is your opportunity to tell your elected representative/s how you are feeling, your worries and concerns, and how climate change is personally impacting you]

We must act to limit warming and overshoot to reduce these deadly impacts. Every fraction of a degree of warming that we can avoid is lives saved, ecosystems protected, and hope for a liveable future for generations to come. I am calling on you to take this decisive action on the climate crisis for the sake of the children everywhere, for future generations, and for us all.

We must act now.

I am calling on you as [the Prime Minister / my elected representative / the Minister for the Environment and Water] to show leadership and courage to phase out fossil fuels and commit to approving no new or expansions of coal and gas projects.

[Wrap up your letter with a final personal reflection or statement]

Yours sincerely,

Name