Farmers for Climate Action
$40,000 | May 2023
What do Farmers for Climate Action do?
Farmers for Climate Action are an 8000 strong network of farmers across Australia and one of the most influential climate groups in Australia and ideally positioned to seriously shift the dial on climate policy as our window to avoid the worst impacts of climate change rapidly closes.
Why is this work important?
The urgent need for ambitious climate action is felt strongly by Australian farmers, who are on the frontlines of extreme weather events and farmers are some of the most trusted spokespeople on climate. There are now almost 8000 farmers in the Farmers for Climate Action network across Australia and their is being sought across the political spectrum, including by Federal Government Ministers, and our network of farmers continue to influence MPs, inside and outside of government, to ensure economy-wide emissions reductions are achieved.
How is Groundswell supporting this work?
FCA have built up key relationships with those in Government and must now continue to influence MPs, inside and outside of government, to ensure economy-wide emissions reductions are achieved. With Groundswell’s support, their goals over the next 12 months include:
Continue to build relationships with MPs and policy makers and work with our farmers to advocate for stronger climate policy within agriculture and across the economy
Run campaigns and land political wins in climate policy, leveraging our position and relationships, as well as the power of our growing network
Commission reports and other thought leadership initiatives that shape the national conversation on climate change and demonstrate the opportunities strong climate policy brings for Australian farming
Continue to leverage our membership of the National Farmers Federation and our links across other leading ag organisations to ensure agriculture continues to lead with ambition on emissions reduction
Produce submissions to inquiries and consultations, and develop policy positions that strengthen Australian climate policy
Deliver training for farmers to ensure we maximise their effectiveness as spokespeople on the need for stronger climate policy, building on the success of our inaugural National Climate Smart Farming Scholarship
Continue to host well-attended webinars (our last one had 1000 RSVPs), produce podcasts and deliver newsletters that bring farmers, ag industry members and policy makers up to speed on issues at the nexus of climate change and agriculture
Expand our movement to over 8500 farmers, and deepen our engagement with farmers, both online and in person to ensure they have the skills they need on and off farm to tackle climate change
Run strategic media campaigns that support farmers to publicly call for action on climate action and ensure that farmers continue to appear regularly in regional, agricultural and mainstream media
Grant Update
Throughout 2023 FCA have achieved these major wins:
Launching our national plan for climate change and agriculture, Farming Forever, with the Agriculture Minister Murray Watt speaking at our online launch event
Taking our 20 Climate Smart Farming Scholars to Canberra, sharing their stories and deep knowledge with MPs across the political spectrum
Reaching a huge milestone of 8,000 farmer members in our network, working together to influence strong economy-wide climate policies
Getting out on the road to deliver an electric ute roadshow across NSW and Victoria
Delivering a full day 'Climate Essentials' course to 120+ farmers and ag industry colleagues, with the ANU
Elevating farmer voices on biodiversity and nature markets by surveying our farmers and using their views to make a submission to the senate inquiry on this topic
Holding an important online forum on El Nino, ahead of the Bureau of Meteorology’s official El Nino declaration, with speakers from the BOM and industry groups talking about what’s ahead and how farmers can prepare
To learn more about FCA’s impact, read our interview with Natalie Collard, CEO Farmers for Climate Action.