Events and media

In Conversation: After the Fires with Zali Steggall and Martijn Wilder

Independent MP for Warringah Zali Steggall and lawyer Martijn Wilder of the World Wildlife Fund Australia spoke about Steggall’s then-newly tabled Climate Change (National Framework for Adaptation and Mitigation) Bill 2020 and why it’s imperative that the Federal Government act urgently on climate.

Watch the recording here.

In Conversation: Matt Kean ­– a Liberal Takes up Climate

Last year, New South Wales Minister for Energy and Environment Matt Kean demonstrated his commitment to climate by establishing renewable energy zones in NSW and publicly standing by the NSW Coalition’s endorsement of net zero emissions by 2050.

Bob Carr talked to Minister Kean about this and his approach to climate as a moderate Liberal.

Watch the recording here.

In Conversation: How to Talk About Climate Change with Rebecca Huntley

Social researcher and author Dr Rebecca Huntley’s book How to Talk About Climate Change in a Way That Makes a Difference asserts that the way we talk about climate change – and who doing the talking – is crucial to furthering understanding and inspiring action.

At this event, she shared insights from her book and revealed some surprising climate communication success stories.

Watch the recording here.

In Conversation: The Carbon Club with Marian Wilkinson

Former Four Corners reporter and Fairfax feature writer Marian Wilkinson lays bare how big money and political power blocked progress in climate policy in her book, The Carbon Club.

Wilkinson unpacked her “forensically researched account” to better explain how, for more than a decade, a powerful few helped to make climate change “the most toxic debate in Australian politics”.

Watch the recording here.

The Hidden Power of Systems Thinking

In their book The Hidden Power of Systems Thinking: Governance in a Climate Emergency, Professors Ray Ison and Ed Straw explore how systems thinking can be applied to governance in the service of climate change.

The event featured a panel discussion and Q & A session with the authors alongside UTS Professor of Climate and Business Bob Carr, and Director (Australia and New Zealand) of the Centre for Public Impact, Thea Snow.

Watch the recording here.

To maximise the reach of our #UTS4Climate event series and introduce the content to a new audience, ISF worked with Impact Studios to produce a podcast. Hosted by marine science student Erika Wagner, who works at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, the podcast featured five of the most compelling interviews from the UTS4Climate In Conversation series.

The podcast was distributed via Google podcasts, Apple podcasts and Spotify, and received 3,105 listens in its first month from release.

Listen to the podcast here.

Findings from our Renewable Energy Jobs in Australia Stage One report were cited in more than 15 articles. Researchers Dr Chris Briggs and Jay Rutovich appeared in multiple print, radio and television interviews in which they considered their findings in the context of current debate concerning Australia’s energy transition and COVID recovery plans.

Listen to Dr Chris Briggs and Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union's national secretary Steve Murphy speaking with Geraldine Doogue on Saturday Extra, ABC Radio National here.

“COVID-19 has shown how vulnerable societies are to shocks and it highlights the need to have strategic planning in place…These shocks might continue to occur; not necessarily health shocks but we’ll have more bushfires, more extreme climate events, and it stresses the need for short supply chains, for the food security needs that may eventuate.”

Dr Federico Davila of ISF’s food systems team lent his expertise to a longform article published in The Australian, that explored the impact of COVID-19 on local food production.