It is great to see Australian school students stand up for their rights and demand that our leaders take serious action to mitigate climate change. Students are well within their rights to call for an end to inaction on climate change as their futures are at stake. It was encouraging to see so many schools support students who chose not to attend school on Friday.

Unfortunately, most of these students can’t yet cast a vote for change in the upcoming state and federal elections. We must do it for them. We must vote for those who take the school students and their concerns seriously instead of chastising them for not attending school and failing to respond to the substance of their protest. We must vote for those who respect and support science, and who understand the complexity of climate change. We must vote for those who are free of vested interest in fossil fuels. We must vote for those who have a long-term view, and who have pledged strong action on climate change.

Australian Universities have produced many innovations in renewable technology. Photovoltaics and Concentrating Solar Power are examples where Australia has repeatedly broken efficiency records and contributed world leading technologies. Sadly, our scientific breakthroughs in these areas have moved overseas and we now import these technologies when we put solar cells on our roofs. We need legislation to support and promote the development and commercialisation of renewable energy technologies in Australia.

Switching to renewable energy alone cannot solve the problem, we need to rapidly cut our energy consumption as well. To this end, we need building codes and approvals processes that incentivise quality buildings, delivering long-term energy savings. Given the Australian climate and currently available technology for new builds, and for retrofitting, zero-emission buildings are achievable and economical. Australian Universities have contributed some excellent home-grown technologies, such as the Vacuum Insulated Glazing that provides double-glazing-equivalent insulation and is thin enough to retrofit into single-glazing frames. This product was commercialised in Japan under licence from the University of Sydney and has facilitated significant reductions in energy usage for existing older homes.

We need to legislate for better transport solutions too. Building more and bigger roads will compound our transport problems. Many studies have shown that building bigger roads leads to more traffic, and limits options for public transport. Cycle networks are a cost-effective way to remove short-distance trips from our roads. At the same time, they present opportunities for healthier life styles and reduced healthcare costs. Other countries have been embracing sustainable transport solutions for a long time. We need to implement these international best-practices in our major centres.

Now is our chance to bring in government, at both the State and Federal levels, that is responsible and responsive on climate change. We cannot afford to keep the status quo. Now is the time to act.