Thread by @Brian_OCall

Dear Prime Minister,

Time for some change. Young Australians demand it. We wrote a letter:

"a request for serious Australian climate action ... with support from all resident Australian #RhodesScholars".

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress Dear Prime Minister,

In response to the ongoing 2019-2020 bushfires, this letter is a request for serious Australian climate action, written with support from all 21 Australian Rhodes Scholars currently resident at the University of Oxford.

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress Across most political and social issues, the opinions of resident Rhodes Scholars are wide-ranging. But there’s one thing we uncompromisingly agree on: the need for prompt and drastic action to combat climate change globally and locally.

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress To this end, we are deeply concerned that without prompt and drastic action, many more lives will be lost through increasingly frequent and brutal natural disasters, as well as due to other climate-related vulnerabilities. We are worried that inadequate action now will translate

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress to irreparable damage to Australia’s land- and sea-scapes. In this scenario, it is foreseeable that Australia will lose its ability to support the abundance and variety of life which makes our country unique, and which all future Australians should be able to enjoy.

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress We write this letter with a sense of humility; we know that climate action will involve difficult choices for your Government, and those to come. However, a significant body of scientific evidence suggests that the costs of inaction are too steep to ignore. We foresee a future in

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress We write this letter with a sense of humility; we know that climate action will involve difficult choices for your Government, and those to come. However, a significant body of scientific evidence suggests that the costs of inaction are too steep to ignore. We foresee a future in

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress which one of our greatest tasks will be undoing the environmental harms of past generations and simultaneously piecing back together a desiccated agricultural sector. Without decisive policy to strengthen Australia’s role in limiting climate change today, the notion of a

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress universally brighter future for the next generation is put at risk.

Current setting of Australian climate policy inaction
Prime Minister, given the obvious need for large-scale climate action, we are deeply concerned by your Government’s inadequate policy position on climate

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress change. Each of us holds a respect for your office, your Government and our country, and it is this respect which has prompted us to take a stand.

Historically, Australia has been seen as a global leader both for the environment and in primary industry. Our assiduous protection

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress of bush, beaches and biodiversity enjoyed a global reputation. The food security provided by our farming communities was robust, the fruits of our nation exported globally. We boasted world-leading expertise in solar energy research and mobilised social concern for the climate

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress well before other nations. Now it is clear that Australia’s ‘business as usual’ approach is incommensurate with that of the global community.

...

We encourage you to heed the pleas and perspectives offered by emergency commissioners, scientific experts and Indigenous leaders

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress for sustainable planning and disaster recovery well into the future. We ask that you consider three immediate, actionable and practicable ideas that would advance Australian climate strategy:

(i)Transition into a role of international leadership on climate, setting the standard

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress for ambitious reductions in emissions and pivoting our industrial outlook away from fossil fuels. An economy-wide, domestic 2050 net-zero emissions target would provide a stable environment for long-term investment. This could be motivated by increasing scientific certainty as to

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress the localised impacts of climate change in Australia and could be parcelled within the framework of a Climate Change Act similar in form to that of the United Kingdom or Victoria. An Act of this kind would function to provide legal and institutional architecture for meeting a

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress statutory net-zero target.

(ii)Prioritise a ‘Step Change’ approach to our energy transition as described by the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) 2020 Draft Integrated System Plan. This highlights a technically feasible lowest-cost pathway for keeping electricity

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress prices low and minimising CO2 emissions. This pathway simply accelerates the pace of our transition from burning coal, shifting investment forward, but not introducing substantial new costs. As a part of this pathway, it will be important to expedite investment into AEMO’s

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress ‘No Regrets’ grid infrastructure proposals and major inter-regional interconnectors to facilitate faster introduction of variable renewable resources into the grid.

(iii)Commit to pursuing our 2030 CO2 emissions reduction targets under the Paris Agreement without use of

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress Kyoto-era carryover credits. This would simultaneously support a renewed Australian climate leadership role, whilst removing a significant block to progress in international climate negotiations.

We invite any immediate opportunity to meet with you and/or members of your

@ScottMorrisonMP @TurnbullMalcolm @Aus_Rhodes @climateprogress Government for further discussion on these matters. Thank you for taking the time to engage with our letter.

Yours faithfully,

Brian O’Callaghan and Siobhan Tobin with support from all resident Australian Rhodes Scholars (Classes of 2019, 2018, part 2017 and part 2016)