More than 50,000 protesters at Sydney Climate Strike

Originally posted by Hevlet ↑

I actually agree - a couple of solar panels and an electric car wont cut it.

The science is basically saying we need to limit warming to 1.5 degrees.

At 2 degrees the Barrier Reef is gone, at there is a 20% reduction in agricultural productivity, many millions will be climate refugees.

The Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (note they obviously went to school!) say we are on track for 3 degrees by 2100. Other groups of climate scientists say we are on track for 4 degrees by 2100.

At 4 degrees warming we are looking at estimates of 140 million to 1 billion Climate refugees in the next 30 years. Agriculture productivity plummets.

The IPCC estimates currently the governments of the world are only doing 20% of what is needed to reduce carbon emissions to keep things at 1.5 degrees by 2030.

Australia probably needs to reduce our carbon footprint by somewhere in the vicinity of 65% (possibly more - and yes that's a HUGE amount) to do our bit to stay at 1.5 degrees warming.

What so many people (on here and elsewhere) are saying is that it is too expensive to reduce our emissions by that much.

What you are really saying is 'My generation doesn't want to pay the costs now - we will leave it to the next ones to pay a bigger price later'.

The science says we have only until 2030 to achieve these reductions before it will be too late and it won't matter what we do.

Yes this means we need government action to achieve the results.

Hence the protesting as individually we can't do it alone!! It will require business changes, government changes, individual behaviour change.

Basically as it stands right now anyone under 40 today will likely see and pay the cost for today's inaction later on.

So what should we do you ask? Well lets start with solar panels and electric cars and support the kids to lobby governments to implement real structural changes in our economy and social systems so that maybe our kids have a fighting chance....

This is our kid's Vietnam War ....

Just saying.....

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"So what should we do you ask? Well lets start with solar panels and electric cars and support the kids to lobby governments to implement real structural changes in our economy and social systems so that maybe our kids have a fighting chance...."

Instead of in disconcertingly vague terms of reference, can you expand on what is meant, specifically, by "real structural changes in our economy and social systems"?