Wentworth voters sent a strong message to the Coalition that it needs to start taking serious action on climate change or risk seeing its vote continue to fall.
The ALP should also sit up and take notice of exit polling from the Australia Institute, which found an overwhelming majority of voters (79 per cent) were influenced by climate change (and the need to replace coal with renewable energy), while almost half (47 per cent) indicated that this issue had a lot of influence on their vote, and a full third (33 per cent) named it as the most important issue.
Meanwhile in the Netherlands, the Hague Court of Appeal has upheld the historic decision in Urgenda Foundation v. The State of the Netherlands (2015), which 'determined the Dutch government must reduce CO2 emissions by a minimum of 25 per cent (compared to 1990) by 2020 to fulfil its obligation to protect and improve the living environment against the imminent danger caused by climate change'.
With scores of similar actions being brought against governments in cities across the US, countries throughout Europe, New Zealand, Uganda and elsewhere, this result is another positive sign that governments can no longer continue to ignore their citizens' increasingly desperate concerns around climate change. The question, of course, is whether any of this is enough to save us from climate catastrophe?
According to the recent IPCC Report only 'rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society' will give us a chance of limiting global warming to 1.5oC, thus giving us and the planet an opportunity to adapt to the significant changes that are already being wrought by climate change. In other words, we have completely run out of time and need our governments to take decisive and immediate action on climate change.
What does this rapid and far-reaching action look like? According to the IPCC, the world needs to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 45 per cent (from 2010 levels) by 2030 and reach 'net zero' emissions by 2050 (which may require a period of 'net negative emissions'). To achieve these kinds of reductions, we need to immediately change our approach to energy, land and ecosystems, urban and infrastructure, transport and industry, by, for example, shifting to renewable energy, changing to a plant-based diet, and building green cities.
And yet, our Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, responded to the Wentworth by-election results by ruling out any change to the government's climate policy, despite it having recently removed any emissions reduction target from its energy policy.
"Adaptation efforts are already taking place around the world. As the impacts of climate change increase, our adaptation efforts will require significantly more institutional, structural, and financial support."
While, of course, this is an issue that should be at the front of all of our minds at the next election, we might also want to look elsewhere for action on climate change. A promising development over the last couple of decades has been the leadership demonstrated by cities and sub-national states in relation to action on climate change. One example of this can be seen in the Sustainable Cities (or Eco-cities) movement. These cities aim to be carbon neutral, consume less and mostly local resources, make car travel redundant, produce zero waste, and, simultaneously, reduce inequality.
While eco-cities are not going to be enough to limit global warming to +1.5oC, they can make an important contribution to our mitigation efforts, particularly since around 50 per cent of us now live in cities. Additionally, these green city policies can form an important part of our adaptation to the, now unavoidable, impacts of climate change — like more severe extreme weather events, increasing heatwaves and more intense droughts.
As the IPCC have underscored, 'the world is already experiencing the impacts from 1°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels', and adaptation efforts are already taking place around the world, including sea wall construction, mangrove restoration and crop modifications. As the impacts of climate change increase, our adaptation efforts will 'require significantly more institutional, structural, and financial support'. Furthermore, because the impacts of climate change vary so significantly from place to place, cities will often be best placed to respond effectively and flexibility to the adaptation needs of residents.
A really simple adaptation strategy is urban greening. Urban areas are often considerably hotter than their surrounding rural areas due to high concentrations of buildings and roads, which absorb and trap the sun's heat. In the face of rising global temperatures, these extra few degrees have significant implications for liveability — especially for poorer residents. Planting more trees and grass (which also helps to facilitate groundwater recharge), and greening roofs (or even just painting them white) can considerably reduce the temperature in these urban heat islands.
Other cities will have to consider strategies to increase their resilience in the face of increased extreme weather events. This can include shifting core services from street level (so that when buildings flood, they can still function because their power services are located on higher levels), encouraging micro-grids (to contain the impact of local infrastructure damage) and supporting household level water catchment and storage (good old water tanks).
Climate change is not a challenge for the distant future. It is here and now. We are already suffering from the effects of global warming and the intensification of extreme weather events, and things are going to get worse. The question now is what we do to both limit the damage and adapt to the inevitable. Fortunately many of the actions that we must take will actually make our lives better.
Dr Cristy Clark is a lecturer at the Southern Cross University School of Law and Justice. Her research focuses on the intersection of human rights, neoliberalism, activism and the environment, and particularly on the human right to water.
Main image: Rooftop solar installation with Shenzhen downtown skyline view as background, China (Getty)