The climate crisis is a cost-of-living issue for Australia. My generation will be the first to pay for it

‘The climate crisis isn’t just on our screens in the form of raging bushfires and devastating floods countries away, it’s hitting our hip pockets right now.’ Image shows flood damage in Coalcliff, Sydney April 2024. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

I love chocolate. It’s a staple of my diet. I don’t like that, at the best of times, it takes up maybe a fifth of my grocery budget.

I also don’t like that as a country, we’ve been all too quick to blame rising food prices on inflation. We’ve quickly made inflation a priority for our policymakers, while the cost of living is the key issue of the upcoming election.