Overconsumption in the global north is causing climate chaos

The highest greenhouse gas emissions per capita are a result of gross over-consumption of fossil fuels for energy and transport in the global North.

Most of the people who are affected by climate change - increasing malaria, food and water shortages and ultimately, death - are in the global South. In the wake of the terrifyingly high death toll in France (19 000 people died from a 14 day heat wave where temperatures peaked over 40 degrees), World Health Organisation scientists have stated that, as things now stand, an average of 160 000 people are expected to die per year from climate change exacerbated illness.

Both the French experience and the global predictions provide clear indication that we are no longer talking about whether climate change is real; we are now talking about what it will cost us socially, environmentally and economically.

The culprit is over consumption on a public and personal level. Most scientists agree that our continued and unsustainable use of fossil fuels has caused human induced climate change. As a result, our unfettered desire to consume is creating greater climate chaos largely at the expense of the world’s most vulnerable peoples.

Australian citizens need to engage in the climate change debate and demand a different energy future for ourselves and others. Australia needs to dramatically reduce industrial, commercial and residential consumption of fossil fuels. We need both an institutional framework for achieving the required reduction in emissions (estimated to be 80%) and the initiative to demand this framework when political will lags.

Friends of the Earth Australia has a sense of what is required to reduce national consumption to a fair proportion of the world’s resources, and take responsibility for our history as a polluter nation. We call it climate justice. Climate justice is all peoples having equal access to the earth’s resources within the limits of what is ecologically sustainable and stable.

To increase awareness of this need to decrease our consumption and change our energy choices, Friends of the Earth is hosting the Climate Equity Tour in April/May 2004. We are please to host three international guest speakers from oil affected and Pacific Island communities to highlight the inequities of climate change impacts and gives voice to those most affected by climate change. This is a unique opportunity to hear from community leaders and activists from affected communities – to gain knowledge and personal insight from those in a position to know.

For more information about the tour and the Climate Justice campaign of Friends of the Earth look at our website at www.foe.org.au/climate or contact Steph Long at stephanie.long@foe.org.au.