Alliance produces 10-year plan in grassroots bid to save planet

SUSTAINABILITY groups are rallying around an environmental alliance's ambitious 10-year plan for community-led action on climate change.

The Sustainable Living Foundation's Luke Taylor said yesterday's launch of Transition Decade, a campaign co-ordinated by the by The Sustainable Living Foundation, Friends of the Earth Australia, Beyond Zero Emissions and the Climate Emergency Network, came at a time when community groups needed a clear way forward.

"A lot of people are pretty depressed about current progress on climate action.  We need a clear platform and unity around key messages," he said.

"Transition Decade clearly presents a plan for achieving the goal of restoring safe climate and a clear time frame for action."

The plan outlines steps necessary for a transition to sustainable infrastructure, transport, energy and housing in Australia by 2020.

Environment Victoria and the Greenleap Strategic Institute, as well as hundreds of community groups including Moreland Climate Group, have pledged their support.

"It's pretty much the first time we've gone out as a movement to get some alignment on time frames and action," Mr Taylor said.

At the launch Mark Ogge of Beyond Zero Emissions previewed a detailed blueprint - to be released in March - for freeing the Australian economy from carbon dependency.

He called for investment in major solar thermal and wind power plants, electric transport and more energy-efficient housing.

"We've only used proven reliable and commercially available technologies in the plan," he said. "So this isn't about hoping for any silver bullets."

Mr Ogge said electric cars used only one-eighth the energy of regular cars, and huge savings could also be made by retrofitting building stock with insulation, double glazing and solar hot water.

"We have all the solutions ready to go, and if we decide to do it, then we can," he said.

The first two years of the campaign would focus on raising public awareness involving communities in local projects, he said, then the campaign would shift to lobbying the Government for structural
changes.

"At the moment fossil fuel industries are spending huge amounts of money on PR and lobbyists to set the parameters of the debate between doing nothing and doing almost nothing," he said.

"But with our plan we're confronting the spin head on."

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