The Australian Youth Climate Coalition at the University of Wollongong has given locals a voice in a national campaign, hoping to ignite immediate action against climate change.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The UOW group has collected more than 200 signatures on a petition to be presented to Illawarra MPs.
People signed in support of the "Safe Climate Roadmap" campaign, which calls for a transition to renewable energy within 10 years, a 40 per cent reduction of pollution by 2020 and for Australians to move beyond coal and gas.
Group president Eva Davis-Boermans said the goals were plausible and taking action was a community responsibility.
"People always say 'someone else can take care of that' … but whether it's switching off a light or changing policy, we all have to work together to fight it," she said. "Don't leave it up to everybody else."
The group will join others across Australia that have handed signed petitions to their local MPs. Almost 10,000 signatures have been collected nationwide.
MPs Stephen Jones and Sharon Bird will accept the UOW group's document at the university on Wednesday.
"We're looking for the bigger impact. When [the politicians] go back and sit in Parliament, hopefully a lot of them will have been approached with this," Ms Davis-Boermans said.
The group hopes the wide interest of communities across the country will not be ignored.
MP Stephen Jones said that he was willing to listen and respond positively.
"[Young people] are going to have to deal with the consequences of our inaction," he said.