Held at the Bega Indoor Sports Stadium on Sunday, two short climate change films were shown, and discussions were held in between about issues around the subject.

The event was organised by Jenny Spinks, Mary Dawson and Tully Doole, who also facilitated the meeting.

It was supported by the Australian Conservation Foundation, and Ms Spinks said there were over 90 such events taking place around Australia.

The first film “Reasons for Hope: Climate change is on our agenda” was a documentary on organisations embracing clean energy technology, and how many Third World countries in particular are already taking steps to lessen their carbon footprint.

The second film “The Tide is Turning on Public Opinion” featured former US vice-president Al Gore presenting facts such as how 75 per cent of US citizens believe climate change is occurring and there are currently more solar than coal jobs in the country.

There is strong support for action in Australian communities, as former Candelo resident and now Australian National University (ANU) student Clare Barcham said a recent survey showed 82 per cent of ANU students supported the idea of their university divesting fossil fuels.

“I think more people were interested in divestment than any other issue at ANU, even [university] fee deregulation,” she said.

Ideas raised and discussed by attendees included food swaps as a means of growing and exchanging produce with less of a carbon footprint, which already takes place in Brogo, Springvale, Cobargo/Quaama and Candelo – visit the SCPA South East Producers website to sign up for their email-newsletter for more information.

A community car pool was also discussed, and Ms Doole said she was interested in starting a group for people interested in the idea.

Steps to fight against climate change, Ms Doole said, were writing to MPs such as Member for Bega Andrew Constance requesting their support for climate change action, and encouraging others to do the same.

“It’s not impossible to do these things we keep hoping to do,” she said.

The Crossing’s project director Dean Turner said a simple way to start change was to look at your bank’s investment and see if they support fossil fuels or not. 

After the meeting was over, Ms Doole said she was “really happy” with how the evening had gone.

“It’s really encouraging to hear everyone’s stories,” she said.

“I learnt a lot of new things I wouldn’t have otherwise known, and it really brought home to me how much strength there is in this community already, to wage the war against global warming.

“It is really important to persist with what we believe in, and not only to raise our voices once, but again and again until we see the change in our world.”