It’s time for Matthew Guy and the Victorian Liberal and National party to get serious about climate change.

In 2017, the world witnessed concerning climate change impacts, from alarming melting of the polar icecaps, record-breaking hurricanes and wildfires in the United States, to bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef.

Closer to home we're seen parts of Victoria experienced the driest conditions on record and the state has faced a heightened bushfire risk in summer.

Unchecked climate change exposes Victorian families and rural and regional communities to intensifying heatwaves, bushfires, droughts, and extreme weather. These climate impacts threaten public health, infrastructure, and agricultural production.

Communities across the state are now taking action. Victorians are reining in emissions by getting energy efficient and installing solar. Towns such as Tarnagulla in the Central Goldfields are working on projects to prepare their local communities from climate impacts that are now unavoidable.

The state government and opposition have a responsibility to take steps to protect Victorians from dangerous climate change impacts.

In 2017, the Liberal and National opposition pledged to scrap programs with a clear climate benefit such as the the Victorian Renewable Energy Target, and will lift the statewide moratorium on risky onshore gasfields. 

Yet it's never too late to do the right thing...

We, the undersigned, call on leader of the opposition Matthew Guy to:

• Commit to uphold Victoria's climate change laws (the Climate Change Act 2017) in their current form.
• Review Liberal and National party policies related to climate change—including Emissions Reduction Targets; coal, gas, renewable energy; and climate adaptation.
• Publicly release a climate change policy well before polling day on November 24, 2018.