Australia
In Australia, groups collaborating or working independently in support of this campaign have started a number of petitions, something that has taken shape like a ‘petition storm’.
Three level of government petitions
• Cedamia runs a a three-level of government Climate Emergency Declaration petition and the Australian Parents for Climate Action petition also targets the federal and state parliaments as well as councils.
Federal level petitions
A number of petitions are directed to the parliamentarians of Australia’s national parliament in Canberra, such as the one we originally started on this website in May 2016, Vote Climate’s national petition, and the federal e-petition EN1041 – Declare a Climate Emergency which closed in October 2019 with more than 400,000 signatures.
More petitions have been started:
• On 15 December 2020, Australian Parents for Climate Action published an online toolkit to urge Prime Minister Scott Morrison to declare a climate emergency.
• The Greens: Call on all members and senators of the Australian Parliament to declare a climate emergency
• Greenpeace Australia Pacific / Break Free: To the Australian Govt: declare a climate emergency
• Greenpeace Australia Pacific: Scott Morrison: Declare a climate emergency
• Greenpeace Australia Pacific: Declare a climate emergency
• 350.org: Pledge to vote 1point5
• Kate Ahmad on Change.org: Australia: Declare a climate emergency
By January 2021: 270,000 signatures collected
— Others target only one specific state government or one local council, such as:
Australia: State level petitions
• Victorian petition: ‘Premier Daniel Andrews: Declare a Climate Emergency for Victoria’
By January 2021: 1,500 signatures collected
• Conservation South Australia petition
• BCCAG petition target both federal and state parliaments
Australia: Local government level petitions
Petitions are currently running in a large number of Australian municipalities.
• Change.org has also set up a page inviting people across Australia to start petitions asking their local councils to declare a climate emergency. By 1 December 2020, 69 petitions had been started under this umbrella on the change.org site – among them petitions to:
Alice Springs Town Council, Brisbane City Council, Perth Council, Sydney Council, Armidale Regional Council, Banyule City Council, Barossa Council, Bayside Local Council, Bega Valley Shire Council, Boroondara Council, Bundaberg Council, Central Coast Council, City of Onkaparinga, City of Swan, Clarence City Council, Council of Cockburn, District Council of Grant and City of Mount Gambier, Hobsons Bay, Lake Macquarie City Council, Ku-Ring-Gai, Logan City Council, Macedon Range Shire, Maroondah Council, Melville Council, Mitchell Shire Council (North Central Victoria), Moonee Valley City Council, Nillumbik Shire Council, Port Stephens Council, Redland City Council, South Gippsland Shire Council, Stonnington Council, Strathbogie Shire, Sunshine Coast Council, Sutherland Shire, Wattle Range Council, and Wingecarribee Shire Council.
• Greenpeace has set up a page inviting people across Australia to start petitions asking their local councils to declare a climate emergency: Australia: Break Free from fossil fuels
• Macedon Ranges Council in Victoria
To be submitted to Council in February 2021.
• Shire of Mount Alexander in Central Victoria
• Successful and therefore now closed petitions: Yarra Ranges Council in Victoria – and Surf Coast Shire Council in Victoria: petitions run by CACE Surf Coast and SCEG
• In Geelong Council in Victoria, petitions were run by CACE Geelong, Centre for Climate Safety and Greenpeace / Breakfree, until Council eventually agreed to make a climate emergency declaration in February 2020.
Some groups are collecting signatures via hard copy petition sheets.
Content of these petitions
The details of these many petitions vary, but they all ask governments to declare a climate emergency and to act / mobilise resources accordingly.
Professional groups and bodies
A growing number of professional groups such as architects, engineers, lawyers, health and social workers have started petitions calling for their umbrella organisations and/or unions to declare a climate emergency. For instance:
• Lawyers: Call on the Law Council of Australia and its constituent bodies to declare a climate emergency in recognition of the need for urgent action to address the climate crisis.
• Social workers: Australian social workers call for action on the climate emergency
• Engineers: www.engineersdeclare.org.au
• Architects: www.au.architectsdeclare.com
https://www.facebook.com/ClimateEmergencyMobilisation/posts/2151087738340245
Canada
• 256 municipalities in Québec representing over five million residents have signed the Déclaration d’urgency Climatiqe.
Chile
• Para: Presidente Sebastian Pinera: Firma para que Chile declare explícitamente la crisis climática y ecológica
“Petitioning President Sebastian Pinera: Sign for Chile to explicitly declare a climate and ecological emergency”
→ Read more on www.climateemergencydeclaration.org/chile
Denmark
• ‘Emergency for the climate now – demand action’
By Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke / ActionAid. Signed by 11,000 people in January 2021. Demanding that the Danish government implements a climate law which will keep the country in alignment with the Paris Agreement’s target of keeping global temperature rise under 1.5 degrees Celcius.
European Union
• We Want The EU Declare A Climate Emergency!
“We only have 11 years to halt the disastrous impact of climate change. The EU must make the climate the priority. Sign to make the EU declare a climate emergency. Now.”
[Succesful]
France
• Déclarons l’Urgence Écologique et Climatique – “A Monsieur le Président de la République, Monsieur le Premier Ministre, Monsieur le Président du Sénat, Monsieur le Président de l’Assemblée Nationale”… (Petition started by Mathieu Hestin, signed by more than 35,000 on 20 May 2019).
Holland / The Netherlands
• The Netherlands should declare Climate Emergency
“We demand that the government of The Netherlands follows the UK in declaring a climate emergency.”
India
• Petition to declare climate change as an emergency in India – by Ted The Stoner (real name: Jatindra Sharma). 293,000 signatures by 7 July 2019.
• “Tell our nation the truth. Help our kids. Save our future. Declare a National Climate Emergency now!” – by Prithvi Jain. 66,000 signatures by 7 July 2019.
• “Children demand Declaration of a National Climate Emergency and Tackling of Climate Change” – by Aman Sharma. 184,000 signatures by 7 July 2019.
• “Young Children & Youth demanding Declaration of a National Climate Emergency on Climate Change and tackle urgently” – by Raj Mahakala. 245 supporters by 9 September 2019.
Sweden
• Upprop för klimatnödläge
“To local, regional and national governments in Sweden: We demand a declaration of a climate emergency situation at local, regional and national levels; Implementation of a strong climate action plan at local, regional and national levels; Climate justice should prevail: take responsibility for those most affected by climate change, globally and locally; Sweden must pursue a policy in line with the Paris Agreement.”
https://klimataktion.se/klimatnodlage/
United Kingdom petitions
• WWF UK: Demand action on the climate emergency
“Climate change is wreaking havoc on our wildlife and habitats, while putting more and more people’s lives and homes at risk.”
• Greenpeace UK: UK Government: Declare a Climate Emergency Now – then Act Like it
“We are calling on the UK Government to declare a Climate Emergency now – and then to act like it.” This petition was signed by almost half a million people within weeks.
• Petitioning Manchester Council to declare a climate emergency – by Climate Emergency Manchester. Ends 29 September 2019.
• Paediatricians’ call for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) to declare support for the Climate and Ecological Emergency.
USA
• We, the People of the U.S. and World Strongly Urge You President Biden to Declare a National Climate and Ecological Emergency Joint Session of Congress at a “Green Pearl Harbor” National Emergency Joint Session of Congress – For Our Children
• Tell Congress to declare a climate emergency now
“Send a letter to your Representative and Senator asking them to wake up and declare a climate emergency and take action that matches the scale of the emergency now, before it’s too late.”
• Support the Climate Emergency Petition Storm
Petitioning US local, regional, state, and federal governments.
Global
• Fridays for Future via The Action Network: Governments to Declare Climate Emergency and Act Now!
• #AllinforClimateAction on Change.org
“We are facing a Climate Emergency. The next years will go down in history because we will have either ruined or saved our planet. We want to send a powerful message to world leaders: We demand real climate action! And we demand it now! We want world leaders to go #ALLINFORCLIMATEACTION!”
38 petitions and over 500,000 supporters on 13 July 2019
• The ‘Job One for Humanity’ petition: Declare a Global Warming State of Emergency Petition
“Sign Global Warming Emergency Petitions and Help End Global Warming”. Started in 2011, this could well be the world’s longest running climate emergency declaration petition.
• Climate Emergency Coalition: Declare a global warming state of emergency
The Climate Emergency Coalition is a US based initiative
• David A. Hood: All Governments, Declare a Climate Emergency NOW!
Petitioning Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, every national government, president, prime minister, chancellor and local governments, mayors and CEOs of the world.
“Let’s build a worldwide petition demanding that all governments at all levels declare a climate emergency. It is beginning here in Australia and elsewhere, but only a tiny few so far.”
• Jaime Lagunez: Our Collapsed Climate – Have the United Nations declare State of Planetary Emergency
“We request a declaration of emergency to have all nations deal with the crisis accordingly, stop using fossil fuels, and generate reasonable lifestyles for all – respectful of the delicate ecological equilibrium of the biosphere. This way, tragic catastrophes will be averted.”
Join the global ‘petitionstorm’
We invite groups to also launch their own climate emergency declaration petitions as part of a ‘petitionSTORM’ of similar petitions.
When the total number of signatures across all petitions is high enough, petitions could be submitted together. Imagine a politician calling on Parliament to declare a climate emergency and saying, “I’ve received not just one, but 10 separate petitions, all asking for a climate emergency declaration. Altogether I have over [xxx,000,000] signatures here.”
Australian petition signature count
Cedamia’s Climate Emergency Declaration petition to all levels of government
People who have already signed one of the national petitions should also sign this petition addressed to all levels of government since various climate emergency action programs can be implemented at other levels of government. This petition replaces the national petition with actions data, but your signatures from that petition are preserved in the cumulative national signature count. The national count in the above table is adjusted so that your signature is not double-counted in the national signature count.
This petition can be embedded on any number of websites, and currently can be signed here:
- On this website
Federal Climate Emergency Declaration petition including actions data
People who sign this petition can also answer a few quick questions about how they reduce their carbon emissions. This is for demonstrating how individuals are mobilising, and builds awareness that ‘everyone is doing it’. This petition can be embedded on any number of websites, and currently can be signed here:
- On this website
- On the Climate Safety site
- On the CORENA site
- On the Groundswell Bass Coast site
- For teen signers on the FED Up site
- On the Climate Change Balmain-Rozelle website
The chart below shows what people who have signed either the three-levels of government petition or the federal petition with actions data have reported so far:
*: The ‘Promote CED campaign’ action only has a few results so far because it is a recent addition to this list of actions.
Vote Climate’s Climate Emergency Declaration petition
A sign-and-share petition without any extra questions. It can be signed here:
Conservation SA petition
This petition targets state parliaments as well as the federal parliament, so please sign this one even if you have already signed one of the above petitions. It can be signed here:
BCCAG petition
This emergency declaration petition launched by the Bayside Climate Change Action Group targets the federal and state parliaments. It can be signed here:
- On the Change.org site
- On this hard copy sheet
AP4CA petition
This climate emergency petition launched by the Australian Parents for Climate Action targets the federal and state parliaments as well as councils. It can be signed here:
Significance of a Climate Emergency Declaration
Declaring a climate emergency and acting on it is a top-level ask that fundamentally encompasses many of the asks climate-motivated people in Australia are currently campaigning on. If we win this ask and it is implemented properly, then this would stop new coal, oil, and gas projects, and existing ones would be phased out. Dirty power stations would be closed down as part of an orderly transition to 100% renewable energy. Energy efficiency would thrive, forests would be regenerated, habitats would be protected, air pollution health effects would vanish, public transport, cycling and EV’s would flourish, and even the Great Barrier Reef might stand a chance of regenerating.
and
Start your own petition
If your group launches your own Climate Emergency Declaration petition, chances are you’ll word it your way to reflect your core focus. To be part of the petitionSTORM, it simply needs to share the same top-level climate emergency declaration ask.
It’s much like a climate march, where different groups march together for a common top-level ask of climate action despite having different concerns and messages.
The only requirement is that the petitions involved in the petitionSTORM include words to the effect that:
- We face a climate emergency
- We call on our political leaders to declare a climate emergency
- We need the government to follow through with the necessary resources and action to fully address the crisis at emergency speed.
If you are launching your own petition, please let us know so we can plan joint delivery as a petitionSTORM as soon as the overall number of signatures is high enough. Or, if you like the existing petitions and your group would prefer to simply help promote one of them, please let us know.
Petition toolbox
Your petition can use whatever images suit your focus of course, but if you’d like to maintain a visual similarity with existing petitions, you might like to incorporate the February temperature spike graph. There is an ‘open source’ version of the temperature spike graph here.
Or, feel free to use the image below as is, if you want, or to take the graph element from it to incorporate in your own image.
Download high resolution version (330 dpi) of this image
If your group likes the three-level of government petition at ClimateEmergencyDeclaration.org/sign, that one can be embedded in your group’s website, if you wish, either with or without the surrounding context. It has a centralised Google Drive mechanism that automatically takes care of recording signatures and updating counters at all sites where it is embedded. The WordPress code for embedding the petition is available from info@climateemergencydeclaration.org.
→ See more suggestions and download graphics from either this Toolbox, or this Toolbox. If you have questions or need the graphics in high resolution, contact us on info@climateemergencydeclaration.org.