As world leaders gather in Brazil for the Rio+20 summit to discuss the pressing environmental issues facing the world, academics, politicians, unionists, climate activists and local resident groups are preparing to meet and work out real proposals for how western Sydney can begin to tackle climate change.
The Australian government’s Climate Commission report The Critical Decade found that rising temperatures in western Sydney will impact on everything from our water supply to mental health and crime levels.
Fred Fuentes, a conference organiser, said he was motivated to help with the Climate Change Social Change conference because governments were failing to act on the warnings. “Given all this, we can not just leave it to governments to confront the biggest challenge of our lifetime,” he said.
“Communities in western Sydney need to start working towards real action on climate change now. That is why we are bringing together such a diverse spectrum of our community in one place to come up with concrete alternatives and policies.”
Hosted by Green Left Weekly, the conference will focus on “how western Sydney can become a world leader in pursuing a path towards a sustainable future”.
Speakers at the conference include:
• Dr John Kaye, Greens NSW parliamentarian;
• Jess Moore, spokesperson for Stop CSG Illawarra;
• Prof. Peter Phibbs, from the University of Western Sydney’s Urban Research Centre;
• Dr Tony Webb, University of Western Sydney’s School of Natural Sciences;
• Helen Masterman-Smith, chair of the National Tertiary Education Union’s Sustainability Working Group;
• Paul Fazon, University of Western Sydney Transport Planning Manager;
• Chris Tobin, a Dharug man and author of The Dharug Story, an Aboriginal History of Western Sydney from 1788;
• Phil Bradley, Parramatta Climate Action Network;
• Simon Butler, GLW coeditor and co-author of Too Many People? Population, immigration and the environmental crisis;
• John Coleman, Rail, Bus and Tram Union (RBTU) activist and public transport campaigner; and
• Peter Boyle, Socialist Alliance national convenor.
Conference attendees will also have a chance to hear representatives from Transition Towns, the Pachamama Alliance, various anti-coal seam gas groups in Sydney and many others.
The Climate Change-Social Change conference will take place from 10am to 5pm on June 30 at Parramatta Town Hall.
[For more details phone Fred Fuentes 0412 556 527.]
