A coalition of Riverina farmers will this week host a virtual forum for action on climate change in the hopes of garnering further support for their cause.
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Organised by Harden's Peter Holding, a founding member of Farmers for Climate Action Riverina, the event will be broadcast from Hilltops Council across Wagga, Young and Temora.
The speakers include Professor Mark Howden, director of the Climate Change Institute at ANU, Dr Lynette Bettio, a climatologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, and Wagga's own Michael Gooden, from the Riverina Local Land Services.
"We couldn't get these speakers everywhere otherwise," Mr Holding told The Daily Advertiser.
"We're all about cutting emissions while getting as many people there as possible, so this was the best way to do it."
Part of a broad national network, the Farmers for Climate Action group has been gaining increased notoriety in the Riverina over the past 18 months.
"The support is growing, but in fairness, I think it would always grow during drought. The first big rain event we get tends to dissipate [the support]," Mr Holding said.
"When we started there was about 20 per cent support [in the farming community], now I'd say we're about 50 per cent."
On a local level, resistance to the group's ethos and a questioning of its function remains strong even as it gains further momentum across the nation.
"You don't have to go far to be told 'the climate always changes', and that seems to be the classic denier's statement," Mr Holding said.
"It's not that we haven't had droughts before, we've never said that. It's just that we haven't had them quite this frequently and this intensely. If you pretend it's not going on, you'll never work out how to manage the risk.
"What's happening in farming now is a window to sustainability on a small scale."
Despite the backlash that remains in place, Mr Holding said the group harbours no malice toward those who have not picked up the fight for sustainability.
"I mean, look at the situation. Farmers have enough on their plate without worrying what's going to happen in the next 30 to 40 years," he said.
"I understand why they wouldn't want to, but we have to continue to discuss these things and put out information that is palatable.
"We can't put our heads in the sand and hope it will go away."
Information on how to attend the Riverina and South West Slopes Climate Update forum can be found via the group's online invitation portal. The two-hour long video link meeting will begin at 8.30am on Wednesday.