"You are burning our future". So the text read on one of the posters at a climate protest in Sydney in late November. Several climate demonstrations have been held in Australia in recent months since severe fires have destroyed hundreds of homes.

- We urge the government to take emergency measures to address the root cause of the forest fires: Climate change, former fire chief Greg Mullins has said.

According to the Australian Weather Agency, climate change has led to more heat waves and aggravated natural disasters, such as drought, the BBC reports. Since 1910, the average temperature in the country has been raised by 1 degree. The periods of drought have, over time, become more and longer.

One of the world's largest coal exporters

The country's prime minister Scott Morrison has denied that there would be a link between the fires that have raged in the country and climate change and has continued to defend fossil fuels, TT writes. Australia is one of the world's largest coal exporters and the carbon positive opinion in the country is strong.

Coal is one of the world's most important energy sources. It is cheap, has huge resources and can be stored. But it is often described as a dirty energy source as it is the single largest source of carbon dioxide in the world. Carbon accounts for 40 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions.