Perhaps not the final draft of our statement for the court today…
Like many people, we are deeply concerned about climate change and feel the responsibility of being part of the last generation that is able to make a difference.
The warnings from scientists are becoming more and more stark about the impacts it will have on people all over the world. We agree with Kevin Rudd and other world leaders when they describe climate change as the great moral challenge of our age.
Australia is facing the worst impacts. It is the hottest, driest continent in the world and faces devastating bushfires and droughts. We even risk losing the Barrier Reef. There is no greater threat to our future and prosperity than that of climate change.
During the Copenhagen meeting last December, we were growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of action by world leaders – despite an overwhelming desire from people all over the world for them to reach a strong global climate treaty to cut emissions. Over eighty thousand Australians took to the streets on December 12th demanding action on climate change.
On 15th December, we decided to send a strong and clear message to world leaders in Copenhagen. We are running out of time to avoid runaway global warming, and, with over 100 world leaders gathered in the Danish capital, we felt it was too important a meeting to let fail. We wanted to make our voices heard.
There are times when people simply need to take action. We did so to try to have a positive impact on one of the most important meetings in history, in the interests of all Australians.
We did not make our decision to do this action lightly. After careful consideration, we decided that to not take action would be worse. To remain silent would be to betray our conscience and to betray future generations who do not yet have a voice.
We made every possible effort to minimise any kind of risk to the safety and security of the Opera House staff and the emergency services. We acted peacefully and co-operated with police orders. We also took every precaution to ensure that no damage would occur to the Sydney Opera House. We are sorry for any inconvenience we caused, this was absolutely not our intention.
We only wished to send a powerful message to our leaders, calling on them to put politics aside and deliver a Climate Treaty, for all our sakes.
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