The Prime Minister continues to spin Australia’s emissions reductions as “meeting and beating our targets” and achieving “more than most other similar economies”. Evidence from the Australia Institute and others shows these claims just don’t stack up.
ARRCC (Australian Religious Response to Climate Change) continues to stand up for much more effective policies from the Morrison government. We especially want to see more ambitious emissions reduction targets by 2030 as our negotiators go into COP26, in line with 2/3 emissions reductions on 2005 levels by 2030. We need our targets to be comparable to those of the US (50 per cent) and preferably the UK (68 per cent).
All over Australia, people of faith are writing their individual letters to Prime Minister Scott Morrison asking for serious climate action – hundreds of us. Will you join us?
We will present the letters in one large stack to the Prime Minister’s office.
Please send your letters c/o ARRCC, 11 Ashby St, Kingsgrove, NSW 2208 rather than directly to the PM. We need them by Friday September 10.
Please also write your address on the back of the envelope. If you’d rather not do that, please write your postcode. We’d like to know where in the country the letters are coming in from.
The difference this will make
This year is crucial. Not only is it the lead-up to the most important global climate negotiations held (COP26) since Paris, our prime minister is getting international pressure from the UK, the USA and others to stop blocking international progress and start getting Australia to pull its weight. It’s also the lead-up to a federal election.
One thing we can achieve by writing hundreds of letters is to show that people of faith care deeply about this crisis and that concern about it cannot be dismissed as something “mainstream” people don’t care about. We very definitely do! We can show that the prime minister needs to act now if he’s to avoid being out of touch with everyday Australians.
Paper letters get read
Research shows that old-fashioned hand-written letters to politicians are much more likely to get read than emails, so it’s well worth the effort.
How to go about it
Here is a guide to writing the letters and/or to organise within your community to write.
Writing letters is a great way to get the ball rolling in your congregation even if only a few people join you. You don’t need everyone – just a few people in each place of worship really adds up. And you’ll be part of a national event, too!
If you haven’t done so already or if others writing with you haven’t, please sign up to receive ARRCC emails. That way you can find out more about what we’re up to. Here is the link to send to anyone who would like to do this: https://www.arrcc.org.au/stay-in-touch
This is one tactic – the main game follows
This is just one part of a Year of Action where people of faith are making our voices heard at a critical moment. Join us and have a look at the other things we’ve got planned!
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www.arrcc.org.au
