How You Can Help Australia

The devastating scenes and statistics coming out of Australia are truly heartbreaking. Since September, massive bushfires have killed 27 people and, it’s estimated, over one billion animals.

More than 8.4 million hectares of land have burned along with more than 2,000 homes, family farms and local business. Thousands of firefighters, most of them unpaid volunteers, are battling the flames daily and the military has been called in to help. Insurance claims of $700 million (AUD) have already been filed.

These numbers are going up by the day.

When watching this kind of suffering and destruction, on such a massive scale and from thousands of miles away, it is natural to feel despair and paralysis. Or to turn away from the headlines and the images because it’s too painful to watch and not be able to help.

But we’re not powerless. We can make a difference.

We can bear witness to what is happening, standing in solidarity with those on the frontlines. We can use social media to share reputable information about what is happening and why.

We can donate to the relief effort, supporting the people and organisations on the ground making a difference and helping people who have lost everything rebuild.

We can look at our own lifestyle choices and make changes in what we eat, how we consume energy and what type we use, how we spend our money and the relationship we have with the planet.

We can hold our leaders accountable and demand concrete action on climate change, because what happens on one side of the planet impacts us all. We’re all in this together.

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Australia is on fire. And the summer there has only just begun. 2019 was a year of record heat and record drought. Today the temperature outside Sydney was 48,9°C. 500 million (!!) animals are estimated dead because of the bushfires. Over 20 people have died and thousands of homes have burned to ground. The fires have spewed 2/3 of the nations national annual CO2 emissions, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The smoke has covered glaciers in distant New Zealand (!) making them warm and melt faster because of the albedo effect. And yet. All of this still has not resulted in any political action. Because we still fail to make the connection between the climate crisis and increased extreme weather events and nature disasters like the #AustraliaFires That has to change. And it has to change now. My thoughts are with the people of Australia and those affected by these devastating fires. (Photo: Matthew Abbott for The New York Times)

A post shared by Greta Thunberg (@gretathunberg) on Jan 4, 2020 at 10:12am PST

Help By Making a Donation

For General Donations

Donate to Earth Alliance’s Australia Wildfire Fund to help those directly affected by the bushfires. According to the website, the money raised will go to assist firefighters, help local communities, rescue wildlife and help restore ecosystems once the fires have stopped.

Support the Firefighters

NSW Rural Fire Service

Queensland Fire and Rescue

South Australian Country Fire Service

Victoria Country Fire Authority

Western Australia Fire Service

Help People Impacted by the Bushfires

Australian Red Cross

GIVIT

Salvation Army

St Vincent de Paul Society

Help Save the Wildlife

WIRES

World Wildlife Fund

Port Macquarie Koala Hospital

RSPCA New South Wales

Australian Koala Foundation

Koalas in Care Inc.

Support Local Businesses

Spend With Them

Share this list with the people you love and please give generously.