Geelong to host ‘climate festival’

A NEW festival will encourage Geelong to “rise to the challenge of climate change”, organisers have announced.
The inaugural Act on Climate Change Festival would “provide the answers and create a new, positive path” for the city, event co-ordinator Dan Cowdell said.
“Let me tell you something surprising about climate change,” Mr Cowdell said.
“While the United Nations announced last week that the national commitments of 146 nations won’t solve the climate problem caused by our uncontrolled air pollution, the good news is that there is no lack of technical solutions lined up to solve the problem.
“There is only a lack of will, so instead of waiting around for our politicians to make the right decisions we really need to start acting at a local level, as individuals, as families and as businesses.
“We must enable our community to rise to the climate challenge as it confronts us.”
Mr Cowdell said state Climate Minister and Bellarine MP Lisa Neville would open the festival before an evening of keynote speakers and a panel at Simonds Stadium on 20 November.
Panel members will include Climate Change Authority member Professor David Karoly and low-carbon investment adviser Bob Welsh.
Mr Cowdell said more information on the festival was available at actonclimatefestival.org.
The festival was announced this week amid reports of a CSIRO survey showing that a minority of Australians believed human activity was responsible for climate change.
The study found that 46 per cent of respondents blamed humans, while 39 per cent believed that climate change was a natural process.
The remainder either thought climate change was not happening or “don’t know”.