Climate Change and its Social Impacts

Whilst public attention is now firmly focused on climate change, very little public discussion has taken place about how tackling the challenges of climate change will impact on different socio-economic population groups and communities.

During Anti Poverty Week 2007, Marrickville Council organised the Forum on Climate Change and its Social Impacts at the Petersham Town Hall to provide an important opportunity to identify and discuss the equity issues associated with climate change.

The Forum highlighted:

• a need to think strategically about how the current uncoordinated array of mainly Commonwealth and State Government initiatives can be better focused to assist low and modest income households;
• a need for an effective approach that will assist people living in private tenancy (36% of total Marrickville households); and
• the reality that carbon pricing and emissions trading schemes, when introduced over the next few years, will penalise low and modest income households much more, unless compensatory measures are built into the design of these schemes.

Within Council, it is proposed to have one of the 2007-08 Council Leadership Program project teams take up these issues and try to develop an approach to how assistance can be best made available to low and modest income households in meeting the climate change challenges.

For more information on the Forum presentations, please download the PDF versions of the multimedia presentations below.