Better Climate

We have news 💡 After an amazing few years as the Better Climate program, our climate work will now continue through our parent organisation, the Conservation Council of WA.

As the state's peak environment body, CCWA brings tens of thousands of people together every year to advocate for climate, nature, and communities. As the intersecting climate, biodiversity, and cost-of-living crises deepen, the stakes are higher than ever, and it's time to come back together to fight for our collective future ✊

We know we're stronger together - and that includes incredible people like you. Join us for the next chapter over at Conservation Council of WA!

After being lobbied by the Nationals and the conservative members of her own cabinet, the federal Liberal Party's Sussan Ley has gone back on her commitment to net zero emissions by 2050. The Conservation Council of WA's Executive Director Matt Roberts says:

"This decision will leave the Federal Liberals wallowing in the political wilderness and not only displays a deep rooted division within the party, but also a clear lack of leadership. Australians soundly rejected the Liberal Party’s energy policy at the last election, and they will do so again.

Not having a target creates uncertainty for industry – undermining the existing renewable energy transition process and pushing our energy security further behind schedule. It will further white-ant Australia’s competitive edge in the renewable energy market.

We cannot allow this ongoing failure on climate action to become a legacy for our children, grandchildren, and future generations to come. And we cannot have the Labor Party use this as an excuse to keep under-delivering on the action we need on climate change. We need real leadership now more than ever."

We need climate leadership and we need it now. Sign up to volunteer with CCWA's climate team - link in comments!

The federal Nationals have abandoned their target of net zero emissions by 2050, and right now, the federal Liberals are debating whether to do the same.

If both parties back out of climate action, we can expect to see more energy culture wars and bad politics, policy uncertainty for investors, and delay in building the energy infrastructure we need for the future.

The conversation is live and the stakes are high. Delaying the energy transition gets us further away from the ambition of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees – which means more floods, fires, and heatwaves for people here and around the world.

We urgently need to support the moderate Liberals who are calling for the party to stand firm on their climate target, and we know that phoning our MPs has an impact.

If enough federal Liberal MPs hear from people like you, we know we can protect our hard-won climate targets. Find your representative and give them an urgent call now! Link in comments.

In response to the Nationals abandoning their commitment to net zero by 2050, Conservation Council of WA Executive Director Matt Roberts has said that the Nationals - and the Liberal Party if it follows suit - risk continued electoral irrelevance unless they start listening to climate scientists and the Australian people when it comes to action on climate change.

Read the full release - link in comments 💡

Labor received a mandate in the last election to give our nation the best possible outcomes for nature, and the reforms delivered today have shown us that yet again, Labor is failing to act on behalf of the people that voted them in.

It's been five years since the independent review of Australia's federal nature laws (the Samuel Review) found that our natural environment is in an overall state of decline, and now, for the second time in just six months as Environment Minister, Murray Watt has failed to make the critical decisions this moment in history requires - for ecosystems, for species, and for humanity.

Most disappointing is that the reforms will not ensure that major polluting projects are properly assessed for their climate impacts, contrary to international law and the recent opinion of the International Court of Justice.

But the bill is not a done deal and what we do over the next few weeks is just as critical. We know that pressure is building in parliament and key backbenchers are feeling it - they've told us, they've told the media, and we're seeing it play out in real time.

If we can keep the pressure on our politicians to make the right decisions and deliver the changes these reforms require to actually protect our natural environment, we can give nature a fighting chance. If we don't, we could lose it all. Follow the link in our bio to take action with us as we call on our politicians to strengthen key parts of these reforms.

For the first time in over 20 years, the Federal Government is rewriting our national nature laws (the EPBC Act) with legislation which will be introduced in the next sitting fortnight.

We know that climate impacts are having irreversible effects on WA ecosystems, from our coral reefs and kelp forests to our Karri and Jarrah forests. For new environmental legislation to be drafted, without forcing decision makers to consider climate impacts of new projects, would be an absolute failing of this once in a lifetime opportunity for Labor to make a meaningful change to our environmental laws.

While a 'climate trigger' has been ruled out - there is still an opportunity for stronger 'climate considerations' beyond just asking proponents to declare their emissions. Your voice matters - help us highlight the urgency and public demand by using this easy form (link in comments) to email your MP NOW (while you remember)...

Climate tipping points aren’t distant warnings — they’re the thresholds we’re already edging toward, where small changes can trigger unstoppable damage to our planet’s systems.

This explainer breaks down what they are, why they matter, and how urgent action can still keep us on the right side of these dangerous lines. The takeaway is clear: every fraction of a degree, and every policy choice, counts.

Join us at our upcoming climate workshops to learn more about the climate challenge, and find out how you can take action that makes sense for you! Sign up using the link in our comments.

👀 Are you hungry for climate action? Do you feel like we need to be doing something different? 👀

We’re rightly worried about our future, and at a time when we need strong leadership and ambition, our government keeps kicking climate action down the road.

We've been using the same strategies to demand stronger action on climate and the environment. Brilliant work has been done, and important wins have been secured - but the pace of policy action is not enough.

To get the ambitious climate action most Australians want, we need to do things differently – we need to build a new climate movement with room for everyone and with the power to demand real change.

✋ Are you in? Click the links in our comments to find out more and RSVP to one (or both!) of our new climate movement workshops!

📢 UPDATE: CCWA has been granted an extension to 24 October, so please keep signing and sharing! 📢

The WA Labor government is holding an inquiry into WA's role in decarbonising our trading partners. Unless it's challenged, this inquiry will likely be used to justify expanding the gas industry, exporting more fossil gas, and using expensive, dangerous, failed technology like carbon dumping.

These sectors displace investment in renewables and prolong our industries’ reliance on fossil fuels.

With climate impacts already intensifying in Australia and across the region, the state government must urgently turn its attention to transitioning to solar and wind now!

Click the link in the comments to read our submission and add your name!

The WA Labor government is holding an inquiry into WA's role in decarbonising our trading partners. Unless it's challenged, this inquiry will likely be used to justify expanding the gas industry, exporting more fossil gas, and using expensive, dangerous, failed technology like carbon dumping.

These sectors displace investment in renewables and prolong our industries’ reliance on fossil fuels.

With climate impacts already intensifying in Australia and across the region, the state government must urgently turn its attention to transitioning to solar and wind now!

Click the link in the comments to read our submission and add your name!

By now, most of us know that gas pollution heats the planet a whopping 80 times more than coal pollution over a 20 year period, and Western Australia's gas exports are our largest contribution to global climate change.

Despite this, the fossil fuel lobby is so powerful that the Cook Government is now holding a taxpayer-funded inquiry into how corporations like Woodside can keep exporting gas, while claiming to take climate action.

But the science is clear: they can't. And we refuse to let the Cook Government greenwash gas!

We're pulling together experts and community members from around the state to discuss this inquiry and what it means, and write our own hard-hitting submissions together.

Join us online next week at 6pm, Tuesday 7th October - RSVPs essential via the link our comments