A group of more than 200 leading Australians, including leading scientists and academics, business and community leaders, former politicians and rockstars have issued an urgent call to action on major threats to humanity’s future, including global warming.

The open letter has been facilitated by the Commission for the Human Future, which is chaired by former Liberal Party leader John Hewson and has brought together experts from a diverse range of disciplines to address challenges facing global society.

The letter calls on governments to work across political divides to develop “a concrete plan for surviving and thriving the mounting dangers that beset humanity.”

The open letter says that the Covid-19 pandemic can be considered a dress rehearsal for addressing major threats like climate change and that governments must act to ensure they are not caught unprepared for a challenge they have been warned about for several decades.

“The coronavirus crisis, with its economic and social impacts, can be seen as a dress rehearsal for what awaits us. Unless we take unified preventative action urgently, we will continue to be caught napping by ten catastrophic threats, including destructive changes in climate, serious shortages of water and other critical resources, pervasive pollution, the growing danger of nuclear war and the mass extinction of species,” the letter says.

Read the full article on the Renew Economy website, featuring commentary by Dr Arnagretta Hunter and Dr John Hewson