The Solutions
The solutions to climate change already exist in every sector, from energy to transport to agriculture. What we need now is the political will, and laws, to implement them.
What will it take to tackle the climate crisis?
The diagram below is Groundswell’s reference for what it will take to make progress tackling climate change. It is the result of the Climate Action Network Australia’s collaborative strategy process which concluded there are four main jobs to do in order to tackle climate change.
There are four main jobs to do in order to secure outcomes for a safer climate:
Build the movement. Groups working in this area deliver powerful community-led campaigns to help shape the national conversation on climate action. Often the focus is on bringing new, diverse people into the climate movement, especially ‘mainstream’ or conservative groups who have the potential to influence their peer networks to help shift persuadable voters in marginal seats or frontline fossil fuel-based communities. Success looks like a powerful, vibrant, well-connected movement that is continually growing and winning more ambitious reforms to cut greenhouse pollution and solve the climate crisis.
Change the story. Groups working in this area focus on communications, using effective messengers that have the ability to reach a wide range of Australians. Creatives and storytellers help build urgency, galvanise the nation, shift culture and remove the social license of climate skeptics and polluters.
Shift the money. Groups working in this area engage in strategies designed to shift the financial sector, including divestment campaigns, shareholder activism and corporate social licence campaigns. Success looks like climate-related risks and opportunities changing the dominant narrative and practices in the finance sector, leading to reduced flows of capital for dirty industries and increased levels of capital flowing for clean economy initiatives.
Change the politics. Groups working in this area have the ability to directly influence politicians or groups that politicians listen closely to e.g. donors, party officials, key stakeholder groups, and party-aligned think tanks. Success looks like the anti-climate action agenda being marginalised in all political parties, leading to laws being introduced and enforced to solve the climate crisis.
In a nutshell, politicians will only ever aim as high as their citizens demand. Businesses will only take a stand when their customers demand it, or their brand is at risk. And that’s where advocacy, campaigning and social movements come in. It’s going to take strategic and well-resourced advocacy to get our political leaders to reduce emissions to levels that will avoid the worst impacts of climate change. We need hundreds of groups building a social movement powerful enough to force Governments to deal with the causes of the climate crisis, such as coal and gas, not just the symptoms.
Our thanks to Sam La Rocca of the Sunrise Project for the development of this framework.