Mr Kean,who spoke at the Smart Energy Summit in Sydney on Tuesday as smoke blanketed the city,said the weather conditions were"exactly what the scientists have warned us would happen".
"Longer drier periods,resulting in more drought and bushfire,"Mr Kean said."If this is not a catalyst for change,then I don't know what is."
Mr Kean said NSW needed to act urgently and have a"meaningful discussion about the causes and what we need to do to fix it."
"We need to reduce our carbon emissions immediately,and we need to adapt our practices to deal with this kind of weather becoming the new normal,"Mr Kean said.
Mr Kean said the smoke was causing"some of the worst air pollution recordings we have seen and fires have never had such an impact on Sydney's visibility".
He said Australians could not allow"ideology and politics"to get in the way of"our clear path to secure our economic prosperity,let alone the health of our planet for generations of Australians".