In the years since, the country has successfully transitioned its dependence on fossil fuels and non-renewable resources to alternative sustainable energy sources and it embraced first nations people’s knowledge of and connection with the land. The result is significantly lower emissions than those Australia signed up to through the Paris Agreement.
The panel gathered for this webinar are discussing the defining moments that took place following COVID-19 and how these contributed to our more sustainable existence in 2029. The future is promising for the first time in decades.
Join us as we explore the successes, pitfalls and possibilities our new future holds.
Watch the video or listen to the podcast
Moderator: Linh Do
Linh has a background in climate change action, where she is equally comfortable organising in social movement spaces or covering the United Nations as a journalist. She is currently inaugural co-Director of the Leaders for Global Sustainability program at the University of Melbourne. Linh is also an alumnus of the University and outside of listening to audiobooks and podcasts, can be found eating icecream or practicing yoga. Her written work and photography has appeared in Al Jazeera, Sydney Morning Herald and the Washington Post. She's a 2020 participant in the Wheeler Centre's Signal Boost programme.
Panelists
Dr Linden Ashcroft
Dr Linden Ashcroft is a lecturer in climate science and science communication at The University of Melbourne.
Her climate research uses the past to help us prepare for the future, exploring the climate of Australia using historical documents with the help of citizen scientists.
Linden communicates science regularly on community radio, was published in the 2019 Best Australian Science Writing Anthology and is a Science and Technology Australia Superstar of STEM, a program aiming to smash society's assumptions about gender in science.
Dr Linden Ashcroft on Find an Expert
Eytan Lenko
Eytan is the Executive Chair of Beyond Zero Emissions, an Australian-based, internationally recognised climate and energy solutions think tank that shows how Australia can thrive through a transition to a zero-emissions economy.
Eytan was a founder of Outware Mobile, one of Australia’s fastest growing tech companies which was acquired in 2017 and co-founded Infrastructure Access Managers, a fund manager that invests in private infrastructure.
Eytan is a director of the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network and is actively involved in the startup ecosystem both as an investor and a mentor.
Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher
Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher is a descendent of the Wiradjuri who studies the long-term interactions between humans, climate, disturbance and vegetation at local, regional and global scales. His current work involves developing and integrating high-resolution palaeoenvironmental records from across the Southern Hemisphere using multiple proxies, including microfossil, charcoal, geochemical and isotopic analyses to provide comprehensive reconstructions of environmental change.
Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher on Find an Expert
Climate Conversations
Australia in 2029: A Hypothetical Future is a part of Climate Conversations, a series of webinars that will take place across 2020 and 2021. Each conversation will address the challenges and opportunities of climate change that we, as individuals or communities, have the capacity to address.