Abstract
The climate emergency framework, which started in Australia around 2008, has been adopted in many countries, particularly the United States and United Kingdom. In terms of the Australian scenario, in my dual roles as an anthropologist and climate activist, I witnessed the initial development of the climate emergency framework and more recent efforts to update it in Australia at the 2020 National Climate Emergency Summit in Melbourne on February 14–15, 2020. From my perspective as an eco-socialist, I argue that the climate emergency framework seeks to operate within the parameters of global capitalism and in doing so downplays social justice issues. There is a need for the climate emergency movement to become part and parcel of a larger climate justice movement, not simply a climate movement that emphasizes techno-fixes, and that says, “system change, not climate change.”