Five years ago, in September 2013, the Climate Council launched as an independent, not-for-profit organisation providing authoritative, accurate information on climate change to the Australian public. This was in response to public outcry at the disbanding of the Climate Commission by the Abbott Government. The Climate Council was launched with the help of more than 16,000 Founding Friends who chipped in more than $1.1 million dollars in just over a week. The message was loud and clear: Australians demanded to know about climate change.

Five years on, the Climate Council has:

• Become Australia’s leading voice communicating on climate change.
• Educated the public on the links between climate change and extreme weather.
• Focused on local, tangible impacts and solutions.
• Played a key role in shifting the public discourse forward from a debate about whether or not climate change is real to what we can do about it.
• Elevated climate and energy policy to be a top-tier political issue in Australia.
• Called out misinformation and discredited climate denial by prominent people and the media.

To achieve these outcomes, the Climate Council has produced 98 publications, more than 80 videos, hosted landmark summits on climate security, heat and health, and energy policy and reached millions of people through both traditional and social media.