Climate Code Red
Encyclopedia
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
crisis is worse than official reports and national governments have so far indicated. The book argues that we are facing a "sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
emergency" that requires a clear break from business-as-usual politics. The authors explain that emergency action to address climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
is not so much a radical idea as an indispensable course we must embark upon. Climate Code Red draws heavily on the work of a large number of climate scientists, including James E. Hansen.
The key themes of Climate Code Red are:
- "Our goal is a safe-climate future – we have no right to bargain away species or human lives."
- "We are facing rapid warming impacts: the danger is immediate, not just in the future."
- "For a safe climate future, we must take action now to stop emissions and to cool the earth."
- "Plan a large-scale transition to a post-carbon economy and society."
- "Recognise a climate and sustainability emergency, because we need to move at a pace far beyond business and politics as usual".
Co-author David Spratt is a Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
businessman, climate-policy analyst, and co-founder of the Carbon Equity network. Co-author Philip Sutton is convener of the Greenleap Strategic Institute and Assistant Convenor of the Climate Emergency Network.
The book was launched by the Governor of Victoria, Professor David de Kretser
David de Kretser
David Morritz de Kretser, AC is an Australian medical researcher and a former Governor of Victoria from 2006 to 2011.-Biography:...
in Parliament House
Parliament House, Melbourne
Parliament House in Melbourne, located at Spring Street in East Melbourne at the edge of the Melbourne city centre, has been the seat of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia, since 1855 .- History :In 1851, even before the colony of Victoria acquired full parliamentary self-government, Governor...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, on July 17, 2008.
See also
- List of Australian environmental books
- Requiem for a SpeciesRequiem for a SpeciesRequiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth about Climate Change is a 2010 book by Australian academic Clive Hamilton which explores climate change denial and its implications. It argues that climate change will bring about large-scale, harmful consequences for habitability for life on Earth...
- Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable EnergyGreenhouse Solutions with Sustainable EnergyGreenhouse Solutions with Sustainable Energy is a 2007 book by Australian academic Mark Diesendorf. The book puts forward a setof policies and strategies for implementing the most promising clean energy technologies by all spheres of government, business and community organisations...
External links
- The Case for a Sustainability Emergency: Philip Sutton interview (audio) - The Reality Report
- The Case for a Sustainability Emergency: Philip Sutton interview (text) - Energy Bulletin
- Article on "Climate Code Red" by professor of politics Robert ManneRobert ManneRobert Manne is a professor of politics at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.Born in Melbourne, Manne's earliest political consciousness was formed by the fact that his parents were Jewish refugees from Europe and his grandparents were victims of the Holocaust...
, August 2008, The MonthlyThe MonthlyThe Monthly is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer Morry Schwartz... - Coming clean on 'nice' coal
- Review of Climate Code Red: Energy Bulletin