Independent candidate Alex Dyson has promised to make the south-west a leader on climate action if elected in the seat of Wannon at this year's federal election.
The former Triple J host said he would aim to make Wannon a "renewable energy leader" as he pledged to help halve Australia's carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero by 2050.
"Wannon has considerable renewable energy potential which could create hundreds of jobs and revitalise the entire economy across the south-west," Mr Dyson said.
"The world is moving towards a net-zero future. We need new responsible leadership to make sure south-west Victoria can take advantage of the opportunities of decarbonisation to provide the jobs of the future to locals."
The Wannon independent candidate's statement was in response to the latest United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released in February.
The report projected increased incidents of extreme weather events including drought, fires, heatwaves, storms and floods likely to cause more deaths, illness and injuries, and affect Australian households, communities and businesses should global temperatures rise by 1.5 degrees.
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South-west Victoria was also an area predicted to experience less rainfall, and hotter and drier conditions which would disrupt and decrease agricultural production and cause emotional, financial and health stress in rural communities.
The forecasting of more hot days and less cold days, snow and glacier retreat, rising sea-levels, and ocean acidification would also have severe impacts on the region's coastal towns.
"The latest UN report shows action is immediately required to deal with increasing risks across the globe, which will impact Australians significantly given our unique environment," Mr Dyson said.
He said more needed to be done to also mitigate climate change's effects on the south-west's economy due to the importance of the environment for its agricultural and tourism industries.
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