Grassroots Climate Action in Australia: Visions, Practices and Innovation

Abstract

Australian grassroots action on climate change is a recent phenomenon. Climate change as an issue of concern entered the Australian political landscape and national psyche later than in countries like the United Kingdom and some Western European nations, but since then there has been a surge of climate action. In 2007, the first ‘climate election’ was held, followed by many other headline-grabbing events including a proposed (but axed) nationwide emissions trading scheme and an implemented carbon price scheme. Coinciding and co-evolving has been a grassroots layer of the climate movement. This layer consists of concerned citizens seeking to address climate change through personal action and pushing for broader social and political change. The research produced by this thesis delves into this layer of climate action in the Australian state of Victoria, describing grassroots actors and practices as well as the potential contribution that actors could make to the mitigation of the climate problem. This thesis first seeks to answer the questions of who comprises the grassroots layer of the climate movement in Victoria and what practices are being advocated and/or undertaken. It then discusses whether any of these practices contribute to addressing the climate problem more broadly. The intent is to conceptualise and systematically explore the grassroots terrain of Victorian climate action whilst seeking to uncover innovative practices in response to climate change. The significance of exploring this terrain and practices is traced to the limited research to date on the grassroots layer of climate action, and, in turn, the limited exploration of the innovative practices that can occur in that space.