Unions must declare a climate emergency

Finn Bryson, University of Sydney

Union Summer intern, NTEU NSW Division

Safe as Houses: Climate change & the Australian Dream cont.

which to hedge the uncertainties of the future and keep the strange at bay, even the strangeness of a changing world and a changing climate. Unfortunately, the stranger that now takes the form of 'strange weather' is no longer so obedient to the whims of 'our will' or to the boundaries of private ownership, nor does it respect the unambiguous records on the register of Torrens title. Failure of leadership Yet what is tragically ironic is that over recent decades the Australian Government has been asking more and more from citizens and their privately-owned homes at precisely the time when it should consider other solutions, other alternatives. At all levels of governance, the home has come to be the site where practices of self-reliance and self-sufficiency can be most effectively developed, demonstrated and encouraged. Home ownership, an investment portfolio, and the steady acquisition of housing assets are now overwhelmingly viewed as necessary elements of the individualised risk management that must be developed in the face of employment insecurity, ...continued from previous page precarity and the perceived unreliability (or indeed failure) of government-funded systems and social welfare services. for the entanglements of the man-made and natural that are at the heart of a changing climate and its consequences.

Citizens are exhorted to recycle, to install solar panels and to make their homes energy and environmentally sustainable. However, a handful of large fossil fuel-based power companies still control the national grid, and even as more and more homes invest in solar panels and battery storage systems to make the energy transformation, the promise of being rewarded for feeding into the grid is being rapidly whittled away by the reduction in tariff payments and eclipsed by the risks of energy supply being increasingly borne by the home. The home, now more than ever, may be called on to absorb risk, to provide a refuge from the vicissitudes of the environment, the turbulence of the climate, and the uncertainties of the future, when what is needed is the very reversal of an interior space closed to the dangers of 'outside'. The clear-cut divisions of modernity fail to make any sense nowadays, and will only continue to do so. Even the idea of a 'natural disaster' remains woefully inadequate as a term of description Losing a home in a bushfire is a traumatic event, a devastating emotional loss that will always exceed the enormity of the material devastation that is left behind, the physical wreckage and rubble that mark the event. Those dwellers who come back to the ruins, to fossick, to salvage and to mourn, return to a place that is unrecognisable as 'home'.

Perhaps at a time of climate emergencies such as the recent bushfire crisis it is paramount for us all to develop new concepts of dwelling and to forge new connections between climate, the environment and home. It is a cliché that new life rises from ruins.

But as Schlunke argues, 'With the ruin one can see the ruination of a Western (and a very Australian) ideal of conquering space with location'. In its place may emerge a more open, less defensive understanding of home as an extension of the environment rather than its limit. ◆

NTEU National Council 2019 resolved to declare a climate emergency. You might ask, what is a 'climate emergency'? Why does declaring one matter? And what does it have to do with unions?

The climate emergency declaration movement began in Australia in 2016 as a formal way to demand recognition of the threat that climate change represents and acknowledgement that action taken so far has not been sufficient. Climate emergency movement in universities Since its launch, 1,330 jurisdictions in 26 countries have declared a climate emergency. The movement has also caught on in universities, which are well-placed to inform our climate change response. Modern universities profess to a noble dedication to solving society’s 'wicked problems'. Well, a university that fulfils this role must seriously engage with climate change as one of the most pressing wicked problems we face. Their own carbon footprints – and those of their investment portfolios – are a substantial place to start. More importantly, though, universities train and educate the young minds who will inherit an increasingly volatile climate, and whose leadership will be crucial to mitigating and adapting to its effects. According to Seb Crawford, Sustainability Engagement Manager at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), 'What a university uniquely can do is teaching and research, getting the word out to policymakers, and putting this stuff into the curriculum'. As of 2020, declarations have been made at 247 higher education institutions representing over 4.5 million students – everywhere from Sweden’s Aalto University to Zayed University in Dubai. They have signed a commitment to mobilise resources for action-oriented climate change research, to deliver more environmental and sustainability education on and off-campus, and to go carbon neutral by 2030, or 2050 at the very latest. Not all universities have shown the same enthusiasm. At the University of Wollongong (UOW), a letter submitted by NTEU Branch President Georgine Clarsen calling for the university to declare a climate

emergency was met with a dismissive response from Vice-Chancellor Paul Wellings, who retorted that the declaration 'is associated with The Greens' and that the University 'is not part of the Government nor is it aligned to any particular political party'. Nonetheless, the UOW administration proved friendly to those of a certain political ilk when it greenlit the Ramsay Centre – a philanthropic organisation whose website lists no political affiliation but features testimonials from John Howard and other prominent Liberals. In September 2019, UTS became the first Australian university to declare a climate emergency after a sustained campaign led by staff, students and the NTEU. The NTEU UTS Branch took up the concern and energy of staff and students to put together a petition with hundreds of signatures. The petition was presented to the Vice-Chancellor and the campaign was ultimately successful, securing a declaration of climate emergency the day before the September 20 climate strike. Does it achieve anything? Do climate emergency declarations actually lead to meaningful action? Can they ever be more than feel-good press releases for institutions already doing their bit? At UTS, for instance, energy-saving measures, renewable energy leadership and fossil fuel divestment were already university policy before a declaration was made. This can lead some commentators to criticise emergency declarations as hollow rhetoric. However, an official declaration promotes accountability by identifying concrete targets – for example, a specified date by which the university must become carbon neutral. Moreover, it can build momentum behind mass democratic involvement in demanding climate justice, and make universities more supportive environments for staff and students to engage in political action. A declaration of climate emergency, on its own, will not be the silver bullet to the climate crisis. It should be seen as a stepping stone towards the societal transformation we need – a transformation that can only be won by grassroots movements. A sustainable future has union values at its heart, and union activists leading the charge. NTEU members have already played a strong role in getting progressive demands into the climate strike movement: publicly owned renewables, a just transition for fossil fuel workers, and Aboriginal land and water sovereignty. The recent explosion in climate activism also presents a huge opportunity to rebuild the strength of the labour movement. At UTS, NTEU’s engagement in climate activism coincided with a 4% increase in union membership. People engaging in climate activism are realising the value and power of collective action and returning to the labour movement. In the words of Branch President Vince Caughley, 'Climate activism presents us with a real opportunity to win back the right to strike. Knowing what we know about the urgency and the kind of structural change required, how else are we going to force the issue other than by striking?' On the back of the National Council’s declaration, NTEU is forming a comprehensive climate strategy using its influence in bargaining, UniSuper, university governance, and wider national advocacy. However, it is grassroots organising work at the Branch level that will really drive the change we need. Together we can build a united climate and labour movement with real power to win a better society.

Declaring a climate emergency recognises that the solutions to this wicked problem will need to be bold. In the words of Greta Thunberg, 'we have to act as if our house is on fire, because it is.' In the wake of a horrific bushfire season and a renewed Australian government commitment to fossil fuel industries, this blunt advice seems more critical than ever. ◆