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“The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices. And that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill." (Applause)
US President Donald Trump, speaking in January, promised to withdraw from the Paris accord and exploit its large oil and gas reserves.
The Climate Council says if the world follows that lead and fails to cut back on burning fossil fuels, Australia will suffer from extreme heat for more than half of every year.
There are already signs of increasing heat, with last month recorded as the world's hottest January on record.
Samantha Burgess is the deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. She says the trend is set to continue.
"We know that the extreme events, which is where humans are most impacted, humans, society and ecosystems are most impacted by extreme events. They happen more frequently and with more intensity the warmer our climate is. So at the moment we're at 1.3 degrees (Celsius) of warming and in 2024 we've seen record losses from extreme events, from hurricanes, from wildfires, from storms. These are projected to become more frequent and more intense with a warmer world."
Here in Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology says 2024 was the second hottest year on record.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said people and organisations need to be more prepared for extreme weather events.
He says climate change is set to trigger even stronger weather events across the globe, leading to more disasters.
"The science tells us there will be more extreme weather events and they'll be more intense. And that is what we are seeing playing out over recent not years but decades. We're seeing the hottest years on record being reached year after year and we're seeing, as well, more extreme weather events."
The Climate Council's new Heat Map reveals that some areas of the country will swelter through two thirds of the year with temperatures in excess of 35 Celsius.
In a high emissions scenario, northern Sydney suburbs like Willoughby and Turramurra, will have four times the number of extremely hot days by 2090.
Western Sydney could see three times the number of hot days.
The figures are similar for Melbourne, but Brisbane could see a 12-fold increase in hot days and a 33-fold increase in hot nights by 2090.
Public health physician and Climate Councillor, Dr Kate Charlesworth, says the heat would hit some of those who are least able to cope with it.
"One of the really concerning things about the Climate Council's heat map is that it shows the electorates with the greater proportion of older people will also face some of the biggest increases in hot days. For example the Lyne electorate on the NSW mid north coast has the among the highest percentage of older people in the country and those are set to face a threefold increase in hot days by 2050. In neighbouring Cowper electorate, also on the NSW mid north coast, those residents are set to face 5 times the number of hot days by 2050."
And she says babies and children are one of the groups most at risk from extreme heat.
Dr Charlesworth says they could become the 'sweltering generation'.
Speaking to the SBS 'Change Agents' podcast series, former New South Wales Fire and Rescue Commissioner Greg Mullins, says he's been aware of an increase in extreme weather for several years.
"In the environment, the changes were even bigger. And I just noticed over the years how the fire seasons were getting slightly longer. Starting earlier, finishing later, there was less time to do hazard reduction burning because it would get too hot and windy. And the fires would get away. And from the mid '90s, it was very clear that something major was going on in the environment."
He says during Australia's Black Summer fires, there were times when temperatures reached nearly 50 degrees, which he would never have thought was possible when he started as a firefighter.
But Dr Charlesworth from the Climate Council says it's not too late to make the necessary changes
"This heat map shows us what the projections are going forward for extreme heat if we continue to burn coal oil and gas. But we have a choice, we're already now powering 40% of our grid from renewables, one in three households have solar on their roof, we really just need to step up the pace to protect our health and protect our future."
