HUNDREDS of people gathered in Newcastle on Monday for a forum focusing on the expansion of the coal industry amid the climate crisis.
Independent senator David Pocock held a discussion panel with former Newcastle Young Citizen of the Year Alexa Stuart at the event at the city hall.
It came after addresses from Climate Council director Professor Lesley Hughes and former Kiribati president Anote Tong.
Organisers Rising Tide expected upwards of 300 people at the event, which was based around the question "should our governments allow new coal in the climate crisis?".
Members of the audience yelled "no" when it was posed.
Professor Hughes gave the crowd a climate science update, and told them emissions were continuing to go up, after a brief dip during COVID-19.
"We're well and truly increasing emissions once again," she said.
She said the world had seen devastating disasters recently, including deadly floods and fires, and warned that ecosystems were changing.
"We are in a climate emergency," she said.
"Our world is changing and we're seeing that happen before our very eyes, it's not a hypothetical and we don't have much time."
She said each fraction of a degree the global temperature rises could make a difference.
"Every year matters, every choice matters," she said.
Mr Tong was the president of Kiribati between 2003 and 2016, and detailed to the Newcastle forum his experience with rising water levels in his island nation.
He said he had first-hand experience of water lapping at his door during a recent high tide.
"The water was coming over and there was nothing we could do," he said.
"These are the realities we are facing."
Mr Pocock and Ms Stuart held a question-and-answer session to round out the forum, which ran from 6pm to 8pm at Newcastle City Hall.
While in the city, Mr Pocock toured the University of Newcastle's Institute for Energy and Resources, visited the Wollotuka Institute, and checked out Energy Renaissance's advanced battery manufacturing.
The forum comes ahead of a planned blockade of Newcastle Port on Saturday November 25.
