Climate and the SDGs: Short film festival

Join us for the final Climate and the SDGs' event of 2026!

Celebrate a year of connection, learning and action with a mini film festival and post-COP31 reflections.

Explore thought-provoking films, hear insights on the year's climate progress and challenges, and share your ideas to help shape our activities for next year.

Featuring

Ø  All Rise spotlighting the movement by Pacific Island students for international climate justice

Ø  Regenerating Australia directed by Damon Gameau exploring what Australia could look like in the year 2030

Ø  7 seasons directed by Clancy Lester celebrating Indigenous knowledge and the young people at the forefront of climate action in Melbourne

When: Thursday 3 December, 6pm to 8pm

Where: Community Hub at The Dock, 912 Collins Street, next to the Library at The Dock.

You may hear that COPs (and the Paris Agreement) are ineffective and haven't achieved much. Evidence indicates otherwise. Since 2015, when the world adopted the SDGs and the Paris Agreement, the world’s projected warming has fallen from around 4°C to around 2.6°C under current policies.

The global challenge is now to upscale actions with urgency to keep this trajectory going down. The local challenge is to keep climate actions at the top of the agenda.

There are signs of real progress. In 2025, for the first time, renewable energy generated as much electricity globally as coal.

Renewables now generate as much of the world’s electricity as coal, and are among the cheapest sources of new power (DCCEEW 2026).

Throughout 2026, the Climate and the SDGs event series, presented by UNAA Victoria and the City of Melbourne, has brought many young people and youth organisations across Melbourne and Victoria together to explore the ways we are contributing to climate action locally.

Hundreds of people have participated in discussions, panels, workshops and skill building activities to explore what Melbourne is doing about climate and food security, climate and health, climate and gender, climate and sustainable cities and communities and climate and circular economies.

The series culminated in October with the Town Hall COP at Melbourne Town Hall, where around 100 guests came together to develop messages of hope from Melbourne’s youth to COP31. These messages are now on their way to the 2026 UN Climate conference in Türkiye (9 to 20 November).

You may have joined us for all of the Climate and the SDGs events this year, dipped in for one or two events or are just coming along for the first time.

All are welcome to this final event in the series for 2026 - a post COP31 wrap up with film screenings, conversations, report backs from young people who have attended COP31, and very importantly we want to hear your ideas about what’s next in 2027.

What would you like to see our ‘Climate and SDG series’ cover in 2027?

This is your chance to join the conversation and help shape the next chapter of climate action and engagement in Melbourne.

Light refreshments provided.

This event forms part of the United Nations Association of Australia (Victoria) and City of Melbourne’s 2026 Climate and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) event series.

In 2026, COP31 will be hosted in Türkiye, with Australia assuming the COP presidency for negotiations. This is a defining role for Australia and the Pacific to influence global climate discussions in the lead-up to, and at the conference in November. In recognition of Australia’s position in the global climate agenda, UNAA Victoria and the City of Melbourne are partnering to deliver a series of seven events to highlight climate action and the localising of the United Nations’ 17 SDGs.

UNAA Victoria is dedicated to engaging local communities in advancing the SDGs, including those related to human rights and climate change. City of Melbourne is a global leader on climate action and sustainability, winning the 2024 UN-Habitat Shanghai Global Award for Sustainable Development in Cities. Melbourne was also the first Australian city to produce an SDGs Voluntary Local Review. Together, we play crucial roles in connecting the community to climate and sustainability action frameworks provided by the SDGs.

Stay tuned for more information on future events.