Conversations with the general public about climate change and writing a message to their local elected representatives.
Project implemented: Ongoing outreach to the community and elected representatives
By building constructive, working relationships with Members of Parliament we seek the passage of Australian Carbon Fee and Dividend legislation, a climate solution and solution accelerator that bridges the partisan divide.
Carbon Fee and Dividend is a revenue-neutral carbon tax with 100% of the net revenue returned directly to households that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions dramatically while growing the economy and saving lives.
Citizen Engagement
Governments will respond to the will of the people provided we tell them what we want. And what we want is a liveable world. This is what Citizens’ Climate Lobby works for. To empower citizens to connect with and inspire their own Members of Parliament. To spread the idea that each one of us can address climate change and accelerate climate solutions.
In order to generate the political will necessary for accelerating climate solutions required to secure a liveable world, we train and support volunteers to build relationships with elected officials, the media and the local community. Our consistently respectful, non-partisan approach to climate education is designed to create a broad, sustainable foundation for climate action across all socioeconomic groups, geographic regions and political parties.
By building upon shared values rather than partisan divides, and empowering our supporters to work in keeping with the concerns of their local communities, we work towards the adoption of fair, effective, and sustainable climate change solutions.
Groups in each electorate to build constructive, working relationships with their Members of Parliament.
Ask the MP to support the passage of Australian Carbon Fee and Dividend legislation.
Climate Lobby Australia is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots advocacy and education organization focused on national policies to accelerate climate solutions.
Citizens’ Climate Lobby Australia solutions are compatible with all sides of politics and will build bipartisanship.
“What is fee and dividend carbon pricing?
Carbon fee and dividend is a model for pricing climate pollutants where a fee is charged on producers of emissions, then all money is given back to households as a dividend. The entire sum collected from the fee, minus administration costs, would be divided between all adult permanent residents, with an extra half share per child in the household. None of the money stays in government hands or is spent on government programs.
This carbon pricing mechanism has recently been adopted by Canada and has just been modelled for Australia by academics at the University of New South Wales. It starts with a low carbon price, perhaps $10 per tonne, and goes up by $10 per tonne every year until reaching a sufficiently high price to drive decarbonisation. Perhaps $50 would be enough.
The key advantages over other schemes are simplicity, fairness, and the potential for broad political support.
Simplicity: With a high enough carbon price, there could be a rapid transition to a low-carbon economy with no need for complex regulation of industry or subsidies for renewable energy. A high carbon price is possible with minimal disruption or hardship because of the dividend. During the transition, businesses can pass on costs, but households are compensated for the higher prices. Both consumers and producers would have a financial incentive to switch to lower emissions products and services.
Fairness: In Canada and Australia, most households would be better off under fee and dividend than they are now. Many prices will go up, but dividend payments will be greater than price increases for lower-income households because they use less carbon-intensive goods and services than high-income households. University of NSW Australia research has found that, at a price of $50 per tonne, households in the bottom 20 per cent of income earners would be, on average, more than $1200 per year better off and average income households would be nearly $600 better off.
Potential for broad political support: Because the system is revenue neutral, there is no impact on government budgets. The capacity to do away with most regulation and subsidies also appeals to free market advocates who dislike government intervention, but acknowledge the problems caused by greenhouse gas pollution.”
Governments will respond to the will of the people provided we tell them what we want. And what we want is a liveable world. This is what Citizens’ Climate Lobby works for. To empower citizens to connect with and inspire their own Members of Parliament. To spread the idea that each one of us can address climate change and accelerate climate solutions.”