
Today, millions of people around the world are striking for climate change.
They’re demanding climate justice and an end to the age of fossil fuels.
The statistics are scary, the science is overwhelming. It’s a lot.
So what can you (yes, you) do about climate change? Let’s assume you’re already sipping from a keep cup, bringing your own bag and recycling like a legend. What else can you actually do?
Leading the charge is 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg. Post continues after video.
Mamamia asked that question of some of the top scientists and conservationists in Australia, and here are their answers on what you can do right now to help tackle this global emergency.
1. Fly less.
Greta Thunberg’s all over this one – travelling by boat or train whenever she can. And so is Dr Fanny Thornton, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Canberra.
“I have stopped going to international conferences just for the sake of it,” she says of her own work travel. “I will only go if I can combine it with other university business, or go to domestic conferences. I was in Europe recently on university business and I took the train to a conference for a very long journey instead of a plane. It was good to see that my university supported the higher cost involved.”
2. Insist on ‘new’ energy options every chance you get.
“The most important thing to stop making the problem worse is to reduce burning fossil fuels,” says Roslyn Gleadow, Professor of Plant Sciences at Monash University.
“Here are three ways you can do that:
“For those who can afford it, get solar panels, get a battery to store power and switch to an electric car. I’ve gradually done all those things over the past 10 years,” says Professor Gleadow. “It isn’t cheap – for us it was an ethical choice. A huge side benefit is that when those of us who do have the option to do these things do so, the cost will come down so that it becomes more affordable for others. We now buy very little power. If you’re a landlord, put solar panels on your rental and insulate the house – that will reduce the overall carbon footprint and save your tenant some money. Also, if there are a lot of electric cars on the road, then governments will be forced to improve infrastructure for them. If you can’t afford an electric car, think about driving something a bit smaller, with a smaller engine and not 4WD.

Top Comments
Since China pumps out more CO2 than the US and Europe combined, you could try asking our government to pressure them to clean up their act at least to the point where the pollution in their cities isnt so bad people need to wear surgical masks outside on some days, rather than keep pressuring us to have no children, go vegan, pay more tax, take away our cars and work 4 day weeks.
If we wreck our economy and tank our birth rates and standard of living, do you think China will care?
Articles like this can be summarised easily enough, “destroy the west”.
It's cruel to bring a baby into a world that is doomed. It's way too late to fix the impact. Humans destroy everything we get close 🤷🏻♀️