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Media Release: Parents: Climate risk report is a red alert for our children's safety

Media Release: Parents: Climate risk report is a red alert for our children's safety - but the worst can still be avoided with bold 2035 action

Parents for Climate

DATE: 15 September 2025

 

Today’s National Climate Risk Assessment is a stark warning for Australian families. It confirms what parents have long feared in our bones: climate change is putting the very systems that support our lives at risk - from our health and food to housing, social cohesion, economic shocks and national security. Parents for Climate say only urgent action - including a science-aligned target of net zero emissions by 2035 - can protect our children’s safety and future.

 

The Australian Climate Service has identified 63 nationally significant climate risks across eight interconnected systems; these risks paint a stark picture of what the future could look like without immediate and strong action. By 2050, 1.5 million Australians could be directly impacted by sea level rise, insurance will become unaffordable or unavailable for many households, health systems will be pushed beyond their limits, and displaced communities will face the loss of homes, livelihoods, and social cohesion.

Children are particularly vulnerable. Heatwaves disrupt schools and early learning centres, bushfires threaten homes, and extreme weather events affect both mental and physical health. Feedback from parents across Australia shows these threats are already shaping daily life: storms and floods keeping kids indoors, cancelled holidays and community events, disrupted learning, and growing eco-anxiety about the future. These are no longer isolated experiences - they are the new normal.

Nic Seton, CEO of Parents for Climate, says:
“This devastating report confirms what’s at stake: our kids’ safety from cascading climate harms. It shows how risks across health, food, housing, security and community are all interconnected - and how inaction will cause them to compound and overwhelm us. Parents do everything they can to protect their children, but governments must do the same: cut coal and gas pollution and commit to a science-aligned 2035 target. This report is confronting, but it’s not our destiny. The future it outlines is avoidable - if we act boldly and immediately.”

Families across Australia are already living with disrupted routines, rising costs, and growing anxiety. But it doesn’t have to get worse. This report is a warning and a roadmap: if we act with courage now, we can protect our kids from cascading risks and build a safer, more stable future. The government’s choice is clear - set strong science aligned 2035 climate targets, or fail our children. We cannot merely adapt our way out of this”

Parent quotes:

  • Amy Blain, Canberra/ACT: "As parents to two young children that still live with the trauma of the terrifying bushfires in Bermagui in 2020, we want our Government to take strong, science-backed action. We’re doing everything we can to protect our kids, we need the Government to do the same.”

  • Tamar Hopkins, Victoria: “As a parent of an eleven year old child who has lived through a catastrophic bushfire on 31st December 2019, I am devastated that the government is not taking all possible steps to ensure a safe climate future for all of our kids. Failure to take serious action on climate change leaves all our children at risk. I am calling on our leaders to make a safe future for our kids its top priority and act now to address climate change.”

  • Julia Parkin, Adelaide Hills: "As a mother of two young children, I am deeply concerned about the impact that climate change will have on their safety and wellbeing. To me, the possibility that the government might not adopt an emissions target in line with science is unconscionable. Our government's first priority must be to do everything necessary to create a safe and livable future for the next generations.

"I live in the Adelaide Hills with my two young kids. My younger daughter was born in November 2024 and during her first summer we experienced a terrible drought and ran out of drinking water. I am deeply concerned about what future summers will look like for her and her generation."

  • Louise Shephard, Sydney (Parent and Psychologist): “As a parent to two beautiful teens, I'm really concerned that Australia's 2035 climate target will not match what the science says is safe for our kids. I really worry about their future. I grew up on a river on the south coast, and I've seen flooding first hand as a child, and I've seen in recent years the anxiety of bushfires and floods on your doorstep for family members. It's extremely stressful.”

  • Sonya Elek, Perth: “Our leaders have been talking about taking action on climate since 1992’s Earth Summit, when I was 14 years old. I’m now the mum of two young men and here we are, still waiting for leaders to follow the science. I am beyond frustrated.

“As a parent, a fair, fast and far climate target would mean that our leaders are listening to the science on climate change. It would give me hope that my sons will have the opportunity to live in a safe climate – and a safe world.”

The National Climate Risk Assessment underscores the stakes for Australia’s children. Parents for Climate are calling on the government to act decisively, aligning its emissions targets with science, law, and the safety of our kids. Every day without strong action puts communities at risk. The government has a duty of care - just as parents do - to protect the next generation.

For further comment or clarifications, contact Parents for Climate CEO Nic Seton on 0407 638 973 or [email protected]

If you are seeking access to our parent spokespeople across the country please contact Parents for Climate Campaign Director Laura Billings on 0402 405 566 or email [email protected] 

 

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Notes to Editors:

Australia is legally bound under both the Paris Agreement and the Climate Change Act 2022 to reduce emissions in line with the best available science. Following the recent International Court of Justice advisory opinion, failing to set a target consistent with a 1.5°C pathway could expose the government to legal and reputational risk. Parents for Climate argue that net zero by 2035 is both a legal and moral obligation.

About Parents for Climate:

Parents for Climate represents over 24,000 parents, grandparents and carers from Australia. We are Australia’s leading organisation for people who care about a safe future for kids and advocating for a safe climate. Our supporters come from across the political spectrum, all Australian electorates, and from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. We seek non-partisan responses to climate change and its impacts. 

We advocate for Australian governments and businesses to take urgent action to cut Australia’s carbon emissions to net zero as quickly as possible. We encourage Australia to demonstrate leadership on the world stage through positive and proactive domestic action and calling for other nations to take the necessary steps to protect our children’s futures. For more information, visit www.parentsforclimate.org


Contact details:

For further comment or clarifications, contact Parents for Climate CEO Nic Seton on 0407 638 973 or [email protected]

If you are seeking access to our parent spokespeople across the country please contact Parents for Climate Campaign Director Laura Billings on 0402 405 566 or email [email protected]