Intergenerational Report: Burden of climate inaction will weigh heavily on future generations in every sector

With Treasury’s Intergenerational Report to be released tomorrow, revealing the impact of today’s economic decisions on future generations, Australian Parents for Climate Action (AP4CA) is urging leaders to keep the cost of climate inaction at the centre of all decisions.

Parents for Climate CEO Nic Seton said unless decision makers at all levels work together to drastically reduce our emissions this decade, the burden on future taxpayers in every sector would be immeasurable.

“The costs of climate inaction are a force multiplier. Everything from health to defence will be affected by worsening climate without ambitious action now,” Mr Seton said. 

“How can we expect young people to support the rising costs of our future economy if we aren’t prepared to invest the bare minimum to secure a safe climate? Everybody stands to be better off with urgent climate action today.”

Parents for Climate is calling on politicians at all levels of government and business leaders to put children’s interests first by working together to create a safe and sustainable world. The organisation has recently lodged an Australian-first claim in the Federal Court of Australia against EnergyAustralia for misleading over 400,000 consumers about the climate impact of its products.

Parents for Climate alleges that EnergyAustralia is misleading customers by marketing its Go Neutral product as “carbon neutral” and having “a positive impact on the environment” when it is primarily generated by burning fossil fuels, which the company claims to have “offset” simply by buying carbon credits.

“We’re taking a stand against EnergyAustralia’s greenwashing on behalf of Australia’s parents and our children, and we want to see our governments do the same,” Mr Seton said. 

“When companies burn fossil fuels, they harm the climate. It’s as simple as that. So when they use marketing spin like ‘offsets’ to justify business as usual, they’re cheating our kids out of a safe future.”

Background on the case before the Federal Court is available here.