Episodes
Aug. 4, 2021
Thunderclaps, flashes of lightning and the eerie silence of drought -the climate crisis is upon us
Thunderclaps, flashes of lightning and the eeriness of the strange silence of a drought is the climate crisis being writ large across the world, but few are listening. Missing from the front lines are our decision-makers, the people who could change our trajectory and put the world community on a course to actively tackle this dilemma. The world is awash with rhetoric that is little more than greenwashing, promises to do something, "But not just yet", they say. One group that has continually po…
Aug. 2, 2021
News: Earth's vital signs worsening - Desmog
The news service Desmog has warned us that the Earth's vital signs are worsening - " Scientists who Issued ‘Climate Emergency’ Declaration in 2019 Now say Earth’s Vital Signs are Worsening ". Also, Desmog writes about an Exxon lobbyist being caught on tape - " House Committee Seeks Interview with Exxon Lobbyist Caught On Tape ". Another story, this time from NBC, tells us that " Earth's energy imbalance removes almost all doubt from human-made climate change ". Try not to be too depressed by th…
July 31, 2021
News: Climate change costing our famers nearly $30 000 each years
Australian farmers have lost on average nearly $30,000 each a year in profits over the past 20 years due to climate change. Those figures are relative to earnings in the latter part of the last century, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) . Two stories from the ABC, the first headed: " ABARES says changing climate is costing every farm, on average, $30,000 every year " and second from 2019, but telling essentially the same story, was h…
July 29, 2021
Interview: Three days in August to make our climate case
Lisa Cliff (pictured) is the program manager for next month's online Better Futures Forum , set for August 17-19. The forum is aimed at bringing all Australians together, putting them all on the 'same page' to enable the community to stand as one in the lead-up to COP-26 in Glasgow later this year. Lisa, an environmental scientist and a climate policy professional, is excited about the August forum in that an impressive array of speakers have been garnered, ensuring the event will cater for the…
July 28, 2021
FCA letter calling for climate action delivered to Damian Drum
A group of people, among them farmers from the Federal Seat of Nicholls delivered a letter to the incumbent member, Damian Drum , on behalf of Farmers for Climate Action . Climate Conversations was fortunate to be there for the delivery - Mr Drum wasn't at his Shepparton electorate office and so the letter was left with his staff. This is what the letter said: Dear Member for Nicholls, Damian Drum, We, the undersigned, are calling on you to stand up for the farmers of Nicholls by supporting str…
July 24, 2021
Interview: 'Look inward, get to work and fix climate change' - Sarah Jaquette Ray
Sarah Jaquette Ray (pictured) teaches at America's Humboldt State University and has written the wonderful book: " A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: how to keep your cool on a warming planet ". Sarah was Climate Conversation's first international guest and so the interview was, for me, something of an experiement; an exepriement that worked quite well, despite a few hiccoughs, problems we overcome thanks to Sarah's generousity, kindness and patience. However, we were not wrestling with just the…
July 21, 2021
Interview: Cr Jennifer Alden is Bendigo city's 'cheer-leading' climate champion
The City of Greater Bendigo's Mayor, Cr Jennifer Alden (pictured), champions the idea of shaping the municipality and preparing it for the challenges arising from the climate crisis. Along with her fellow councillors, she is overseeing the idea of ' Greening Greater Bendigo ' and is shepherding the Bendigo Climate Collaboration into reality. The latter project also involves many local groups and individuals. The City of Greater Bendigo has not declared a climate emergency, in so few words but i…
July 17, 2021
Interview: 'It's not humans that cause climate change, it's particular economic systems' - Blanche Verlie
Dr Blanche Verlie (pictured) has written and published a wonderful book that helps readers better understand how to better cope emotionally, intellectually and philosophically with the quickly emerging rigours of climate change. The book, " Learning to Live with Climate Change; from anxiety to transformation ", can be downloaded, in its digital form, at no cost from the Sydney Envioronment Institute . Blanche regularly appears on The Conversation, with one article being " Bushfire Education is …
July 11, 2021
Sarah loves this 'quirky, diverse and gritty' place and is concerned about the climate crisis
Sarah Thomson (pictured in her days with WaterAid ) was suggested as a great subject for an interviewee for Climate Conversations - and that was exactly the case. However, our chat wasn't only about the climate, for Sarah is one of those "everywhere" people - she is the Chief Financial Officer with the Shepparton-based Goulburn Valley Water ; she is a board member with the Committee for Greater Shepparton; and, has played a key role in the creation of a body aimed at allowing people to have a g…
July 8, 2021
Caring about the climate crisis equates with caring about our indigenous people
This is NAIDOC Week - that time each year when we need/must pay special attention to our indigenous people. Here in Australia, our indigenous people had cared for our country for some 60 000 years and in bringing modernity, we have managed to put it on a slippery slide to compounding difficulties in just over two centuries - we have much to learn and so we need to pay attention, respect their values and embrace the indigenous culture. Shepparton has many links with the efforts by indigenous peo…
July 3, 2021
'A war-like footing and $4 trillion a year' - US Climate Envoy, John Kerry
The Special Presidential Envoy for Climate from the U.S. Department of State, John Kerry (pictured), was a virtual guest on the final day of Britain's 2021 Climate Innovation Forum arguing that the world needed to be in a war-like readiness to deal with the quickly unfolding climate crisis. Mr Kerry and host, Nik Gowring, talked about the need for the world to be investing about $4 trillion a year from now on to prepare itself for the rigours of the difficulties ahead. Climate Conversations enc…
July 2, 2021
Delivering the 'People's Climate Strategy" to the Member for Nicholls
The recent delivery of the " People's Climate Strategy " to the Member for Nicholls, Damian Drum , on behalf of Friends of the Earth (FoE) was not to be, according to FoE, an ambush and although I tried to ensure it was not that, it still became an energetic conversation about the climate crisis. Damian and I talked about many things, among them the alarming outbreak of heat in north-western America and part of Canada, a reality addressed by many organizations from within the world's media And …
June 30, 2021
Nicky Allen wants to give kids a voice through her 'Green News'
Nicky Allen (pictured) had her first encounter with the world's environmental problems when just nine years old and felt rather scared. The Sydney girl, who founded " Green News " and "Green Force" and who has now just turned 16, is somewhat more mature, but equally scared as the reality of the climate crisis has enriched and worsened her sense of worry. The Year 10 student set up Green News in an attempt to give kids, like herself, a voice, and so help them do something to relieve the apathy o…
June 29, 2021
'It's time to tackle climate change' - the Committee for Greater Shepparton
Sam Birrell (pictured) is the CEO of the Committee for Greater Shepparton and was the author of a column that appeared today in The Shepparton News (June 29) calling for action on climate change. In an interview with Climate Conversations, he said the climate crisis was now a major focus for the committee - today's column was headed: "It's time to tackle climate change". What Sam wrote is published below and after reading that, Climate Conversations urges you to listen and enjoy" Music for a Wa…
June 28, 2021
Three-pronged bid for treaty on fossil fuels
Michael Poland (pictured) began working in 2019 to build global support for a fossil fuel treaty and the Melbourne-based activist is now part of a worldwide strong team committed to seeing the embrace of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty . Michael happily admits that the fossil fuels treaty is not the "silver bullet" when it comes to resolving the climate crisis, rather it is just another of the many tools needed to slow the crisis, help both individuals and society generally avoid an ever…
June 25, 2021
'Greta terrifies men' - Hilary Clinton
Greta Thunberg (pictured), according to Hilary Clinton, terrifies men. Greta, along with two other young women who "terrify men", was a guest in a recent webinar organized by The New York Times where they talked about their advocacy for the climate crisis. Former U.S., Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, joined them to talk about living in and advocating within a patriarchal state. Listen to and enjoy " Music for a Warming World ".
June 24, 2021
'Whiskey is for drinking, water for fighting over' - light-hearted aside to Mark Twain quote from GMW's Mark Bailey
The Tatura-based Goulburn Murray Water has overall responsibility for water arriving in northern Victoria's Goulburn Valley. And as the head of the organization's Water Resources Unit, Mark Bailey (pictured), has a clear understanding of what's happening with water in the Goulburn Valley and of what limitations are going to be forced up water users as the climate crisis worsens. In this episode, Mark helps us better understand the region's water resource and what we can look forward to in the d…
June 23, 2021
Environment Victoria rushes to the barricades
Environment Victoria's CEO, Jono La Nauze (pictured) rushed to the barricades when the National Party , emboldened by its new leader, Barnaby Joyce, set about to tear the Murray Darling Basin agreement to shreds. The New Daily has written about this latest move by The Nationals describing it as a "split" from their Liberal Coalition partners. Enjoy " Music for a Warming World ".