Australia’s climate change reversal can’t come soon enough for those worst-affected

Despite its relatively small population, Australia is one of the top 10 emitters per capita in the world, with a heavy dependence on coal for its energy. But the Labor government arrived in May, promising to change things.

This year Australia is trying to transform its climate credentials from laggard to environmental crusader.

From a reputation as an outlier that refused to sign any new pledges at the UN’s COP26 in Glasgow last year, Australia is now a signatory to the global agreement to reduce methane gas emissions by 30%.

Its new Labor government has also committed to shifting to renewable energy and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030. Under the previous Liberal-National Coalition government it was 26%.

However, for flood survivors in the northern New South Wales city of Lismore, a ‘B’ does not cut it.

The towns and villages in this region are built on floodplain country. People are used to floods here.

So when the rain started in February and didn’t stop for days, no one expected the scale of this catastrophe.