Tomorrow is the 53rd Earth Day. EarthDay.org aims to engage with 1 billion people and organisations worldwide in recognising our collective responsibility and “redirect attention to creating a 21st century economy that brings back the health of our planet, protects our species, and provides opportunities for all.”

Greens candidate for Cunningham Dylan Green says the federal government has a big part to play in building this future.

“I want to see our government leading the way on a sustainable economy and healthy planet”, said Mr Green.

“Labor sided with the Liberals last week in support of opening up new coal mines. We should be supporting workers to get out of this dying industry, not encouraging the next generation to take up coal mining.

“The Greens want to end thermal coal mining by 2030. We have proposed a job-for-job guarantee, where all coal workers maintain their income for 10 years after they transition to a more sustainable industry.

“This way, we take coal mining communities with us as we build a safe future without climate change.” 

Unsustainable development also poses a threat to the health of our natural environments.

“Healthy ecosystems are more resilient to climate change and provide life-critical services such as food and clean water”, said IPCC Working Group II Co-Chair Hans-Otto Pörtner upon the release of the sixth assessment report.

“By restoring degraded ecosystems and effectively and equitably conserving 30 to 50 per cent of Earth’s land, freshwater and ocean habitats, society can benefit from nature’s capacity to absorb and store carbon, and we can accelerate progress towards sustainable development, but adequate finance and political support are essential.”

Dylan Green believes that Australia’s EPBC Act is full of built-in loopholes, and that federal and state governments do not provide adequate protection.

“The reclassification of Dendrobium mine is an example of how flimsy our environmental and planning laws are. Barilaro and Scully muscled their way in, effectively overturning the result of a long and consultative process” said Mr Green.

“If Australians don’t want decisions made at the whim of a few politicians, we need a total rehaul of our environmental protection laws.”