With the environment now in focus after four long years of the US overturning many environmental reforms enacted during the Obama presidency and, in Australia, a push towards coal and away from renewables, it’s a welcome relief to see the world again at the table to discuss climate change and its management. The US will rejoin the Paris Accord and pressure is mounting on Australia and other nations to lower emissions and meet targets.
Meanwhile, there are many environmental and wildlife warriors working hard, year after year, to protect our environment and draw public attention to the impact of climate change. Of course, you and I know that the natural disasters of the past few years should be enough warning…unfortunately, they are not.
Australia has a unique and beautiful environment. With a relatively small population compared to land mass, our wildlife has thrived however the bushfires of 2020 took a toll on many species. None more so than our Koalas, now in danger of extinction. Many organisations are fighting the good fight to ensure this doesn’t happen. Still this did not stop a recent state government attempting to pass legislation which would have given land developers the right to bulldoze Koala habitat in some parts of that state. Only one brave Member of Parliament, Liberal MP Catherine Cusack, stood up to her own party and voted against the legislation which meant it was voted down. This cost the MP her parliamentary secretary portfolio/role but Koala habitat was protected. I struggle to understand how this legislation could have got so far…
It’s the actions of our environmental and wildlife warriors that contribute to the continuity we enjoy in our local environments, even when our government leaders fail us. Australia is well remembered for one of the most prominent wildlife warriors of the last few decades, the late Steve Irwin. I tuned into the energetic vibration of Steve recently. I’ll let the video speak for itself.