From 12pm today, protestors from Extinction Rebellion will be outside the Australian Embassy in London, protesting against the Australian government’s ‘failure to respond to the bushfires and the climate emergency.’
Bushfires have been tearing through Australia for several months, according to reports, an estimated 4.9 million hectares of land has been destroyed so far, this is an area of land that is equal to a 1/3 of the UK.
The fires have taken with them over 2,000 homes which as a result has forced thousands of people to seek shelter elsewhere. The current death toll has reached 25 people, which includes three firefighters, and it is estimated that over 1 billion animals have been affected.
Today many Australians have received government alerts on their phones warning them that they are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.
The aim of the protests is to draw attention to the ‘betrayal’ of the Australian government on failing to protect its citizens from the bushfires.
Germany’s Fridays for Future student Luisa Neubauer has also placed increased pressure on German engineering company Siemens for its involvement in the controversial Adani coal mine project in Australia.
Anna Moore, an NHS respiratory doctor, and mother of four said: ‘I spoke to a doctor in Sydney yesterday – they’re used to coping with bushfires but the scale of these fires is unprecedented. No one has seen this before.
‘The fires are so widespread that for many people there is nowhere to go.
‘Emergency departments are overwhelmed with people – especially babies and the elderly whose bodies just can’t cope with the heat.’
Sally Davies, a magazine editor from Australia said: ‘Both major political parties have betrayed the Australian people.
‘The Prime Minister and his government deny the science of climate change while handing buckets of money to the big pollutors.
‘Meanwhile Labour professes to want the world to decarbonise but supports Australia continuing to sell coal and gas overseas.
‘These bushfires are the most deadly and vivid evidence yet of the environmental emergency the world is facing.
‘It’s in Australia’s supreme and urgent national interest to use all the diplomatic and economic tools at our disposal to rapidly push ourselves and other countries towards a zero-carbon future.’
Earlier this week, Environment Journal reported on the bush fires.
Photo Credit – Pixabay