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Canberra Today 15°/16° | Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Yvette Berry steps in for Andrew Barr to accept divestment letter

FFACT_Open letter Yvette Berry2

THIS morning outside the Legislative Assembly representatives of Uniting Church, United Voice, Public Health Association and Conservation Council launched an open letter, signed by over 20 Canberra community organisations calling for the Government to stop investing in fossil fuels like coal and coal seam gas.

Treasurer Andrew Barr, to whom the letter was addressed declined an offer to accept the letter from the representatives. Yvette Berry decided to accept the letter and pass it on to the Treasurer.

“Countless studies show that not only global climate change but the extraction, transportation and burning of fossil fuels create significant community and global health problems at every step. The ACT Government divested from tobacco because of the heath implications, coal and gas must be treated the same,” said Public Health Association of Australia representative Professor Colin Butler.

“We realized that divesting from fossil fuels not only made moral sense, but was a financially prudent decision as well given the rapid rise of renewables, China’s shift away from coal and community opposition to coal seam gas,” said Reverend Ivan Roberts, a representative from the ACT/NSW Uniting Church. The Church was the first body in Australia to commit to divesting from fossil fuels.

Below are the organisation involved.

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