Steelworks Rally

 from ABC Illawarra  

A rally outside the Port Kembla Steelworks has highlighted the potential threat of climate change to the local community and infrastructure.

Rally organiser Chris Williams says inaction on climate change could bring about a five-metre sea level rise by the end of the century.

He says this would severely affect local housing as well as major employers like BlueScope Steel and the University of Wollongong.

Mr Williams has called on local politicians to make climate action and sustainability higher priorities.

"Our local members should start listening to the grassroots climate movement, they should start pushing for things like 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020 and an immediate phase-out of the coal industry, but looking towards a just transition, that is ensuring the jobs and livelihoods of working people and creating new sustainable industries," he said.