Calls for state govt. to reduce emissions amid rising climate crisis in WA

As the dry spell continues across WA, some climate experts are warning it’s only the beginning. The really important thing to know is that what we’re seeing now is a snapshot. It’s not the end, it’s just the beginning. Bill Hare says WA Southwest is drying out at a globally significant rate, leading to concerns that the region could face another forest collapse event. We can protect our national parks, we need to, but they will not survive. They would simply will not survive. The warming and drying that is coming, and I think everyone in this state needs to understand that it simply will be a different place. But it’s not only the environment being impacted, with farmers also paying a price. While over the last two decades farmers through technology, innovation and scale have successfully adapted to a drying and warming climate. Our adaptive capacity is now being tested. They’re urging the state government to take immediate action by setting an emissions reduction target for 20-30 and to stop supporting new fossil fuel projects. The government knows what’s happening here. It’s got scientists that have been telling it. So I think the government needs to grab the bull by the horn, so to speak, and get on and develop a real adaptation strategy for this state that encompasses its agricultural zone and elsewhere. Otherwise, everything else is just talk. The state government claims it’s taking the threat seriously. We’ve made every effort to confront the realities of climate change to undertake our obligations. In combating climate change and reducing our emissions, but also in supporting industry as well as the environment for what we know is going to be a difficult century for us. A difficult time this group hopes can be avoided.