The report to be released today by Treasurer Jim Chalmers seeks to forecast the economy over the next forty years. By then, the climate crisis will have reshaped the world beyond recognition. The Duty of Care campaign renews its demand for legislation to protect the health and wellbeing of young people from climate change.
"The Treasurer's intergenerational report is pointless," said Anjali Sharma, co-founder of the Duty of Care campaign and lead litigant in the Sharma v Environment Minister class-action.
"Young people won't be looking at this report to know their future. What use is a report forecasting the next forty years by a government failing to tackle the greatest challenge of our time?"
The recent United Nations Environment Programme Report warned that the world is heading towards an intense and unstable climate. Children will suffer at least 80% of the global burden of disease and death caused by climate change, according to the World Health Organisation.
"To avoid climate catastrophe, governments in Australia must legislate their Duty of Care to protect young people and future generations. Without implementing this, any attempts by the government to forecast the future are futile.
"No more empty promises of intergenerational fairness. We want serious protections for our future now."
