DECLARATION FROM FENNER CONFERENCE 2013
Passed unanimously by the participants at the Fenner Conference
11th October, 2013
Recognising
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- the inextricable links between population, resources and climate change
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- that human economic systems are dependent on natural ecological systems
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- that a sustainable future depends on widespread ecological literacy
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- that we are fast approaching the limits to resource (particularly oil) availability and scale of use
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- that we face the prospect of catastrophic climate change that will affect society and the economy irrevocably
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- that the world must keep four-fifths of fossil fuels in the ground, and
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- that global population continues to grow by 80 million, and Australia’s by 400,000 annually of which 60 per cent comes from net overseas migration…
we therefore call on Australians and their governments to
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- develop policies to stabilise Australia’s population
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- end destruction of habitat
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- develop plans to maintain domestic power, food production and distribution systems, and water and sanitation systems as fossil fuels peak and decline
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- decarbonise our energy supply as a matter of urgency and develop clean energy renewable systems
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- stop coal exports and end subsidies for exploration of oil, gas and coal
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- incorporate the principle of ecological sustainability into core curricula at all levels
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- make contraceptives more freely available and significantly increase the family planning component within Australia’s foreign aid budget.