When is enough, enough? In life, everything has its limits – jeans fray and the buttons give way; wetsuits leak like a sieve one last winter morning before meeting a recycling bin; the compressions in your surfboard result in it feeling like a moon landing underfoot as you take-off.

When it comes to climate change and the threat of global warming to our ocean, we are beyond ‘enough’ fossil fuels being extracted from our ocean and burned to power an economy on a one way journey to climate apocalypse.

On the 14th of March 2024, NSW became the first state in Australia to pass a law to ban offshore oil and gas exploration in the state’s coastal waters, as well as block pipelines from connecting the shore with oil and gas exploration further out to sea in Commonwealth Waters. This legislation came about due to many different political players and advocacy groups nudging and cajoling for the outcome over a long period of time. Surfers for Climate helped get it up on the agenda and ensure that the law had bipartisan support from the major political parties, meaning that it would be legislated for good.

The New South Wales Parliament took an historic leap forward for action on climate in Australia. The significance of this ban cannot be overstated. It effectively quashed the controversial Petroleum Exploration Permit 11 (PEP11) proposal, which aimed to drill for gas off the NSW coast, stretching from Newcastle to Manly. While the NSW government’s jurisdiction only extends six kilometres offshore, the ban on coastal waters dealt a significant blow to the economic feasibility of venturing further into Commonwealth Waters (home to PEP11). The legislation represents a significant step towards safeguarding Australia’s marine environments and transitioning towards renewable energy sources in our ocean too.

But this ...