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Wesley Morgan, Griffith University

In 2024, global climate trends are cause for both deep alarm and cautious optimism. Last year was the hottest on record by a huge margin and this year will likely be hotter still. The annual global average temperature may, for the first time, exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels – a threshold crucial for stabilising the Earth’s climate.

Without immediate action, we are at grave risk of crossing irreversible tipping points in the Earth’s climate system. Yet there are reasons for hope.

Global greenhouse gas emissions may peak this year and start falling. This would be an historic turning point, heralding the end of the fossil fuel era as coal, oil and gas are increasingly displaced by clean energy technologies.

But we must do more than take our foot off the warming accelerator – we must slam on the brakes. To avoid the worst of the climate crisis, global emissions must roughly halve by 2030. The task is monumental but possible, and could not be more urgent. It’s not game over – it’s game on.

Parents for Climate welcomes the announcement from NSW and Federal governments to provide matched funding for cost-saving upgrades to up to 24,000 social housing properties and to open up access to solar power to more than 30,000 households in total. However, Parents for Climate would like to see this support go further.

As another record-setting summer approaches, millions of Australian families will be unable to keep their kids cool in dangerously hot homes, with cost-of-living pressures stretching households to the financial limit, a new report from Parents for Climate and Sweltering Cities warns. 

The report, Hothouse Australia: Our kids at risk as heat soars, highlights that millions of children, including over 760,000 children living in poverty in Australia, face heightened risks to their health and education from exposure to extreme summer heat in homes, schools and childcare centres.

Around 3 in 4 lower-income households, already making hard choices to keep food on the table, are also likely to cut back on the use of air conditioning and cooling appliances due to cost pressures, despite living in poorly insulated and energy-inefficient homes.

Western Sydney mum, Rebecca De Marco, is one of them and dreads the strain the heatwave will add to already stretched finances. 

 “My first baby was born during the Black Summer fires. We were in a rental with no air conditioning, and the 40 degree heatwaves were a huge struggle. With another baby on the way, we’ve moved to a two story rental in Western Sydney, and the heat is back.

“On 30 degree days we are only just able to cope. I’ve done everything I can with wet towels and so on, but on a warm day it gets to 30 degrees upstairs by the time we put our kids to bed at night.

“We’re only on one income at the moment, so we’re super careful with money. We’ve got pretty good at keeping bills down, but I know that won’t be the case this summer. When it gets above 30 degrees outside we have no choice but to run the aircon all day.”

The snapshot analysis of latest data shows:

• Millions of children, especially the more than 760,000 children living in poverty in Australia, face heightened risks to their health and education in millions of poorly insulated, energy inefficient homes across Australia.
• Kids are more susceptible to a range of health issues due to extreme heat, and less capable of mitigating these risks. 

• Families are under enormous financial pressure, with 3 in 4 lower-income households likely to cut back on the use of fans and air conditioners due to cost pressures. Additionally, around 1 in 5 Australians cannot afford to cool their home.

• Not all schools are heatsafe. Some states have no requirements for air-con in classrooms, including 350 schools that missed out in NSW. Playground surface temperatures in some cities can exceed 80C.

• Without action this crisis will only worsen. By 2050, hundreds of thousands of Australian children will face severe and extreme heat that risks their life and health, and 7 million will face higher and more intense heatwaves.


Kristen and her family, featured in the report, endure the heat in North Melbourne

Karleen Gribble, Western Sydney University; Michelle Hamrosi, Australian National University, and Nina Jane Chad, University of Sydney

Extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and intense in Australia. This can cause illness or worsen existing conditions. During hot weather, hospital admissions and deaths increase.

Babies are among those particularly vulnerable.

Looking after a baby during extreme heat takes a little planning and a lot of patience. Here are five practical tips.

Media Release

November 30 2023

Parents, grandparents and carers across New South Wales can breathe a little easier tonight knowing that the NSW Parliament has legislated some of the most ambitious emissions reduction targets in the country.

The level of ambition, 70% by 2035, was first put on the table by the Liberal Party and National Party earlier in the year. With the support of the Greens, the Labor Government has agreed to increase their Net Zero Bill targets which is a fantastic outcome.

CEO of Parents for Climate, Nic Seton, said that protecting the environment for future generations is a top concern for local parents. It’s also front of mind for a growing number of children, especially those in later years of schooling.

“Not only does the environment benefit from this new climate legislation, but it sends a strong signal that NSW is committed to pursuing new clean energy opportunities and creating new jobs.

“We would also like to see more incentives for households to install solar, batteries and upgrade appliances. Households are struggling with the cost of living and the quickest and easiest way to slash energy bills for families is electrifying their home.

“We’re also calling on the NSW Government to consider new initiatives such as putting rooftop solar on daycare centres and further expansions of solar on schools.

“We congratulate all NSW politicians who passed this bill today. We look forward to seeing the economic and environmental benefits across our state for generations to come,” Mr Seton said.