We’re calling on all Australian Parliamentarians to enshrine their duty of care to protect young and future generations in law.

Building on our 2022 campaign, urging the current and former environment ministers to uphold their duty of care, we are expanding our appeal to all members and senators. And this is a critical moment!

Independent Senator David Pocock is introducing a private member’s bill to call for changes to the Climate Change Act to force government to consider the health and well being of young and future generations when making decisions about projects that impact the climate. As parents concerned about their children’s climate, we strongly support this bill.

Our love for our children is above politics. Add your support. And let’s ensure our kids are safe from climate harm caused by decisions today.

Dear Federal Parliamentarians,

 

We ask that you support the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Equity) Bill 2023, and to enshrine a duty of care to protect the health and wellbeing of young and future Australians in government decision making on projects that could significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions.

 

With our sincere support, encouragement and hope for the future our kids will inherit. Our kids and their families are counting on you.

 

Australian parents, grandparents, carers and family members.

 

We care about our kids and the kind of future that they will inherit.

We know that fossil fuels are incompatible with a safe future, just like nuclear weapons are incompatible with a safe future.

That's why 101 Nobel laureates and over 3,000 scientists are calling for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. Six countries and 84 subnational governments have already endorsed it. It's time Australia got on board, too.

We need a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty now.

Dear World Leaders and Australian governments, 

As parents, grandparents and carers, we are calling on the world leaders and Australian governments to join governments across the world to negotiate, adopt and implement a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty - our kids are counting on us.

Coal, oil and gas are the source of 86% of CO2 emissions that cause climate change. Our addiction to these fossil fuels means children in every country around the world are breathing polluted air, while storms, floods, heat waves and bushfires hit with increasing severity and frequency.

As parents, grandparents and carers, we cannot stand by and let the fossil fuel industry and world leaders rob our children of a safe future.

So we are speaking up, emboldened by the love we have for our children, to demand an end to the fossil fuel era and a just transition to a clean energy future.

We are seeking a binding global plan to:

1. End expansion of any new coal, oil or gas production in line with the best available science as outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme;

2. Phase-out existing production of fossil fuels in a manner that is fair and equitable, taking into account the respective dependency of countries on fossil fuels and their capacity to transition;

3. Ensure a just transition to 100% access to renewable energy globally, support dependent economies to diversify away from fossil fuels, and enable all people and communities, not least the Global South, to flourish.

As parents, grandparents and carers, we stand united for a clear, global plan to phase out fossil fuels. Governments must make it happen now, our kids are counting on us.

Yours sincerely,
Australian parents, grandparents, carers and family members.

Update: Together with 100+ pieces of kids artwork, this petition was delivered to Minister Plibersek's office in December 2022. Check out the handover event gallary here! 

We encourage parents from across the country to continue signing this Open Letter to our Environment Minister; every bit of pressure contributes towards a safe climate for our kids.

Dear Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, 

We, the undersigned, represent a diversity of Australian parents, grandparents, carers and family members, who are deeply concerned about the safety of our children. 

We are doing all that we can to protect our children from harm and provide them with the support and guidance to ensure they have the best chance at a happy and healthy life. But we need your leadership to protect them too. As Australia’s Environment Minister, you share a Duty of Care for young Australians. And we will support you to make the right decisions that will ensure a safe and thriving environment for many generations to come. 

We understand that you begin your role in earnest while Australia’s environment is at its poorest state in history. We applaud you for the positive steps you have taken already in this critical leadership role. We have renewed optimism in the way in which you are recognising the huge challenges and poor state that our environment is in.

Hard and challenging decisions will have to be made to safeguard the living world for our children. Your role is critical to protecting Australia’s children from climate harm. And we entrust that you will uphold your duty of care to protect them in your decisions.

In support of the Environment Council of Central Queensland’s legal intervention to protect Australia’s living wonders from climate damage, we ask that you heed the scientific advice on the climate impacts of all new fossil fuel projects while prioritising the well-being of young and future Australians. 

We ask that you act to implement the response plan to the state of the environment report urgently and with the resources required to restore our natural world, so that young and future Australians may depend on it, just as older Australians have to date.

And we ask that you overhaul the inadequate environment laws that allow for continued destruction, by supporting all of the recommendations of the Samuel Review. 

With our sincere support, encouragement and faith in your leadership to do what is right. We won’t get another chance. Our kids and families are counting on you.

Australian parents, grandparents, carers and family members.

Parents For Climate