All across Australia there are communities taking climate action into their own hands. One example is in rural Victoria, where Totally Renewable Yakandanah (TRY) is a 100% volunteer run community group with “the lofty goal of powering this small Victorian town with 100% renewable energy, giving resilience, savings, lower emissions and showing that it can be done”.

We talk to Juliette Milbank and Matthew Charles-Jones of TRY, about the challenges involved in the energy transition, the scale of the opportunity, and where they are on their journey.

About Climate360º

Climate360º is a podcast series that will take a broad view of how climate impacts our whole world. It is an initiative of Sam Redston and Andrew Mackenzie. www.climate360.com.au

In the blame game of who is doing most, or least, corporations are not typically showered in climate glory. While some large companies are taking meaningful steps to decarbonise, there is also growing criticisms of greenwashing and climate tokenism.

The Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) is a major player in shining a spotlight on the good and the bad. We speak to ACCR executive director Brynn O’Brien about the important (and tireless) job of share activism and holding business to account.

Brynn O’Brien is Executive Director of the Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR), a research and shareholder advocacy organisation. The ACCR uses their expertise in shareholder strategy to enable institutional investors to escalate their engagements with major, heavy-emitting listed companies in their portfolios.

Brynn has deep expertise in corporate governance, active ownership and international law, combining a sharp understanding of markets with a commitment to systemic change. An experienced lawyer and strategist, Brynn has led the ACCR since 2017, growing the organisation from a small advocacy initiative into a respected and globally connected force for corporate accountability and investor action on climate.

The ACCR research team undertakes in-depth research into the climate transition plans of companies in our portfolio, contextualised with the latest climate science, to assist institutional capital to understand investment risks and opportunities during the energy transition. Brynn holds degrees in Medical Science and Law from the University of Technology Sydney, a Master of Laws from Columbia University, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Visit their website www.accr.org.au

About Climate360º

Climate360º is a podcast series that will take a broad view of how climate impacts our whole world. It is an initiative of Sam Redston and Andrew Mackenzie. www.climate360.com.au

For much of the recent two decades Australia’s big emitters have done a great job pushing the politics of climate denial. But we have, surely, now crossed the Rubicon. It’s real, and we need to do our bit.

We talk to Ross Garnaut AC about his life work making the case that Australia must do its fair share. That means understanding the economic impacts and opportunities of the changing world we must now face.

For Ross, Australia is sitting on an almost unique combination of climate positive resources, green-hungry trading partners and ever cheaper green technology. This has the potential to turn Australia into an energy superpower. Join us as we travel from the contested climate wars of recent years to the new economic possibilities of a low-carbon world.

Ross Garnaut AC is one of Australia’s most influential economic thinkers on climate change and the energy transition. An economist by training, Garnaut has worked at the highest levels of public policy — including as Principal Economic Adviser to Prime Minister Bob Hawke and as Australia’s Ambassador to China — and later became known globally for leading the landmark Garnaut Climate Change Review, commissioned by Australian governments to set out the economic case for climate action and adaptation

He is a Professor Emeritus at both the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University, and serves on the boards of ZEN Energy and the Superpower Institute, helping shape Australia’s path to a zero-carbon future Garnaut is the author of widely read books such as Superpower and Superpower Transformation, which argue that Australia could become a renewable-energy “superpower” — cutting emissions while strengthening the economy.

Recognised with Australia’s highest honours for his service to climate, economics and public life, Garnaut has spent decades showing that climate change is not just an environmental issue but a profound economic and national opportunity — if we choose to act.

What does it mean to be committed to sustainability, while working in an industry responsible for 40% of the world’s carbon emissions? Firstly, it means trying hard to adapt and retain old buildings, rather than bulldoze and start again. That’s about one third of those building emissions. Secondly, it means making buildings that are super efficient to run, with ‘operational carbon emissions’ accounting for the other two thirds. These issues are particularly important when working on large buildings, which are notoriously carbon intensive, to both build and operate.

Sam Peart brings her engineering background to these challenges, while reflecting on the different attitudes and behaviour of engineers and architects, when faced with complex, multi-dimensional challenges.

About Sam

Samantha Peart is the Global Head of Sustainability at Hassell, an international design firm. With extensive experience in sustainability leadership, she has held senior roles at Development Victoria and Arup, driving transformative environmental strategies across various sectors.

Peart has led Hassell’s integration of sustainability into architectural practice. Her work encompasses promoting material and product provenance, advocating for certified sustainable timber and mass timber, and emphasising adaptive reuse of buildings. She leads initiatives to embed sustainability frameworks within large organisations, enhancing environmental performance and fostering regenerative design practices.

Read Hassell Studios From Office to Home: new research explores the case for ‘Radical Reuse’ and other research reports here.

About Climate360 

Climate360 is a podcast series that will take a broad view of how climate impacts our whole world. It is an initiative of Sam Redston and Andrew Mackenzie. 

Over the weeks and months ahead we will explore how climate impacts health, economics, politics, science, farming, manufacturing and everything else. We will explore the challenges of a changing climate, while throwing a light on a rich community of innovators and activists, professionals and academics, makers and motivators, who are leading the way in how we might respond to our changing climate. 

We acknowledge that we work and create on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung and Boon Wurrung People of the Eastern Kulin Nation, and we pay our respects to their Elders, past and present. Always was. Always will be. 

www.climate360.com.au

Professor Paula Jarzabkowski talks to us about how housing in high-risk areas is bad policy and leads to an increase in what she calls the insurance protection gap. Our building codes are also not adapting to new climate conditions. As is so often the case in considering climate impacts, those at greatest risk are those least able to afford those impacts.

About Paula

Professor Paula Jarzabkowski is a strategic management expert at the University of Queensland, specialising in the intersection of insurance, risk, and climate change. Her research reveals how climate-induced disasters impact insurance markets and the broader implications for society, and in particular those parts of society that are at greatest risk.

Published books include Making a Market for Acts of God and Disaster insurance Re-imagined, and most recently Organizing beyond Organizations for the Common Good: Confronting Societal Challenges through Process Studies . You can follow her work on her website paulajarzabkowski.com

Our thanks to Professor Paula Jarzabkowski, and the University of Queensland, for joining us to share her insights into the disaster insurance protection gap, and the complex systemic challenges we face in adapting financial and insurance systems to meet changing climate conditions.

Read the recent reports from the Climate Council referenced, including the 2025 Climate Risk Map here.

About Climate360°

Climate360° is a podcast series that will take a broad view of how climate impacts our whole world. It is an initiative of Sam Redston and Andrew Mackenzie.

Over the weeks and months ahead we will explore how climate impacts health, economics, politics, science, farming, manufacturing and everything else. We will explore the challenges of a changing climate, while throwing a light on a rich community of innovators and activists, professionals and academics, makers and motivators, who are leading the way in how we might respond to our changing climate.

We acknowledge that we work and create on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung and Boon Wurrung People of the Eastern Kulin Nation, and we pay our respects to their Elders, past and present. Always was. Always will be.

www.climate360.com.au

Doug Rennie is a third-generation farmer and regenerative agriculture trail-blazer. With a mix of changing climate and soil degradation biting hard on the farm’s productivity, his family is now exploring the cultivation and commercialization of industrial hemp. He talks about the challenges of introducing hemp as a viable crop in Australia, dealing with regulatory hurdles, production complexities, and market development.

Alongside a host of collaborators in the production cycle, his work reveals hemp's extraordinary potential in both the sequestrating of carbon and as a carbon negative, super strong sustainable building material.

Climate360° joined Doug at Eagle Masonry, a brick manufacturer to the south-east of Melbourne, where final stage prototyping was underway to prove the structural and commercial viability of hempcrete bricks. This work follows in the footsteps of other hemp-based building innovations like Hexcore (a composite timber panel replacement) and hempcrete.

About Climate360°

Climate360° is a podcast series that explores how climate impacts health, economics, politics, science, farming, manufacturing and everything else. We will explore the challenges of a changing climate, while throwing a light on a rich community of innovators and activists, professionals and academics, makers and motivators, who are leading the way in how we might respond to our changing climate.

It is an initiative of Sam Redston and Andrew Mackenzie.

Special thanks to:

Doug and Paul Rennie and the team at Outback Hemp, Joost Bakker and to Eagle Masonry.

We acknowledge that we work and create on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung and Boon Wurrung People of the Eastern Kulin Nation, and we pay our respects to their Elders, past and present. Always was. Always will be.

Join us as we interview Joost Bakker on the design of the Regenerative Futures Studio for Woodleigh School, a learning centre that exemplifies his principles. The project utilises carbon-sequestering materials like hemp and straw, emphasising the distinction between net-zero and truly regenerative design. The buildings also have a thriving indigenous rooftop garden incorporating an innovative rain water harvesting system that ensures an ongoing, climate resilient habitat. Locally sourced natural, recycled and repurposed materials feature throughout, Bakker demonstrates how architecture can actively contribute to environmental restoration and create an exceptional healthy, sustainable learning environment.

https://www.futurefoodsystem.com

@joostbakker

@climate_360

About Joost Bakker

Joost Joost Bakker is an Australian environmental designer and sustainability advocate, celebrated for pioneering zero-waste systems and regenerative architecture. His innovative projects, such as the "Future Food System," showcase closed-loop living environments that integrate food production, waste recycling, and sustainable construction.

About Climate

360 Climate360 is a podcast series that will take a broad view of how climate impacts our whole world. It is an initiative of Sam Redston and Andrew Mackenzie. Over the weeks and months ahead we will explore how climate impacts health, economics, politics, science, farming, manufacturing and everything else. We will explore the challenges of a changing climate, while throwing a light on a rich community of innovators and activists, professionals and academics, makers and motivators, who are leading the way in how we might respond to our changing climate.

Special thanks to:

David Baker, Principal, and the Woodleigh School community Woodleigh Regenerative Futures Studio Design Team: Joost Bakker, Design Lead; Frank Burridge, Project Architect; John McIldowie, Design Architect; Craig Brown, Project Director; Elizabeth Burger, Interior Designer, Sam Cox, Landscape Consultant; TGA Engineers, Structural Engineer; BRT Consulting, Services Consultant; A2M Consulting, Cost Consultant.

Thanks also to Melbourne Design Week 2025 and the architectural photography of Earl Carter.

We acknowledge that we work and create on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung and Boon Wurrung People of the Eastern Kulin Nation, and we pay our respects to their Elders, past and present. Always was. Always will be. www.climate360.com.au

Join us for the second part of our conversation with Professor Dan Hill is a renowned designer, urbanist, and educator, currently based at the Melbourne School of Design at the University of Melbourne.

With a career spanning over two decades, Dan has led transformative projects intersecting design, technology, and urban development across global cities, including Manchester's Northern Quarter and Google's campuses. His expertise lies in crafting social and cultural infrastructures that respond to contemporary urban challenges.

In this episode, our first long-form interview from the ClimateRelay: Building season, Dan introduces the Australian Carbon Reduction Roadmap, a collaborative initiative launched in early 2025 with the aim of translating global commitments of the Paris Agreement to local targets, from a national emissions limit through to definition of a carbon budget specific to the built environment.

In presenting the Roadmap, Dan demonstrates “design’s capability to produce tangible settings in which to encounter other ideas”, advocating for experiential engagement and demonstrating a myriad of ways we can “show don’t tell at system scale”. We covered a lot of ground, and none of it could be left behind in the edit suite, so this is the first of a two part presentation.

ClimateRelay: Building is a series of interviews with diverse thinkers and doers from the worlds of research, design, insurance, engineering and farming. Each in turn discusses how their work intersects with climate and building. Five full interviews will be published weekly, from next week, however we kick off this week with a ClimateRelay - a short excerpt from each of five interviews running back-to-back. In so doing, ClimateRelay is designed to demonstrate that climate issues cannot be discussed in silos. The impacts of climate change are intrinsically cross-disciplinary, requiring us to think in complex, non-linear ways.

Building launches Climate360, a weekly podcast that will take a broad view of how climate impacts our whole world. Over the weeks and months ahead we will explore how climate impacts health, economics, politics, science, farming, manufacturing and everything else. We will explore the challenges of a changing climate, while throwing a light on a rich community of innovators and activists, professionals and academics, makers and motivators, who are leading the way in how we might respond to our changing climate.

Climate360 is an initiative of Sam Redston and Andrew Mackenzie.

Join them every week for fresh ideas and bold propositions for a changing world.

The Australian Carbon Reduction Roadmap is a collaborative initiative, and we would like to acknowledge the team and encourage you to visit their website and join the movement at https://reductionroadmap.au

Australian Reduction Roadmap

Robert H. Crawford, James Helal, Dan Hill, André Stephan (University of Melbourne)

Gerard Reinmuth, Mikkel Moller Roesdahl, Sarah-Jane Wilson (TERROIR)

Gerard Reinmuth (University of Technology Sydney)

Tim Schork, Sarah-Jane Wilson (Queensland University of Technology)

Special thanks also to

Melbourne Design Week 2025

Ewan McEoin, Timothy Moore, National Gallery of Victoria

Creative Victoria

We acknowledge that we work and create on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung and Boon Wurrung People and we pay our respects to their Elders, past and present. Always was. Always will be.

www.climate360.com.au

Professor Dan Hill is a renowned designer, urbanist, and educator, currently based at the Melbourne School of Design at the University of Melbourne.

With a career spanning over two decades, Dan has led transformative projects intersecting design, technology, and urban development across global cities, including Manchester's Northern Quarter and Google's campuses. His expertise lies in crafting social and cultural infrastructures that respond to contemporary urban challenges.

In this episode, our first long-form interview from the ClimateRelay: Building season, Dan introduces the Australian Carbon Reduction Roadmap, a collaborative initiative launched in early 2025 with the aim of translating global commitments of the Paris Agreement to local targets, from a national emissions limit through to definition of a carbon budget specific to the built environment.

In presenting the Roadmap, Dan demonstrates “design’s capability to produce tangible settings in which to encounter other ideas”, advocating for experiential engagement and demonstrating a myriad of ways we can “show don’t tell at system scale”. We covered a lot of ground, and none of it could be left behind in the edit suite, so this is the first of a two part presentation.

ClimateRelay: Building is a series of interviews with diverse thinkers and doers from the worlds of research, design, insurance, engineering and farming. Each in turn discusses how their work intersects with climate and building. Five full interviews will be published weekly, from next week, however we kick off this week with a ClimateRelay - a short excerpt from each of five interviews running back-to-back. In so doing, ClimateRelay is designed to demonstrate that climate issues cannot be discussed in silos. The impacts of climate change are intrinsically cross-disciplinary, requiring us to think in complex, non-linear ways.

Building launches Climate360, a weekly podcast that will take a broad view of how climate impacts our whole world. Over the weeks and months ahead we will explore how climate impacts health, economics, politics, science, farming, manufacturing and everything else. We will explore the challenges of a changing climate, while throwing a light on a rich community of innovators and activists, professionals and academics, makers and motivators, who are leading the way in how we might respond to our changing climate.

Climate360 is an initiative of Sam Redston and Andrew Mackenzie.

Join them every week for fresh ideas and bold propositions for a changing world.

The Australian Carbon Reduction Roadmap is a collaborative initiative, and we would like to acknowledge the team and encourage you to visit their website and join the movement at https://reductionroadmap.au

Australian Reduction Roadmap

Robert H. Crawford, James Helal, Dan Hill, André Stephan (University of Melbourne)

Gerard Reinmuth, Mikkel Moller Roesdahl, Sarah-Jane Wilson (TERROIR)

Gerard Reinmuth (University of Technology Sydney)

Tim Schork, Sarah-Jane Wilson (Queensland University of Technology)

Special thanks also to

Melbourne Design Week 2025

Ewan McEoin, Timothy Moore, National Gallery of Victoria

Creative Victoria

We acknowledge that we work and create on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung and Boon Wurrung People and we pay our respects to their Elders, past and present. Always was. Always will be.

www.climate360.com.au

Building is a series of interviews with diverse thinkers and doers from the worlds of research, design, insurance, engineering and farming. Each in turn discusses how their work intersects with climate and building. Five full interviews will be published weekly, from next week, however we kick off this week with a ClimateRelay - a short excerpt from each of five interviews running back-to-back. In so doing, ClimateRelay is designed to demonstrate that climate issues cannot be discussed in silos. The impacts of climate change are intrinsically cross-disciplinary, requiring us to think in complex, non-linear ways.

Building launches Climate360, a weekly podcast that will take a broad view of how climate impacts our whole world. Over the weeks and months ahead we will explore how climate impacts health, economics, politics, science, farming, manufacturing and everything else. We will explore the challenges of a changing climate, while throwing a light on a rich community of innovators and activists, professionals and academics, makers and motivators, who are leading the way in how we might respond to our changing climate.

Climate360 is an initiative of Sam Redston and Andrew Mackenzie.

Join them every week for fresh ideas and bold propositions for a changing world.

The ClimateRelay participants are, in order of appearance,

00:00 “The road to Paris is steep. Very steep.” Dan Hill, Designer, Urbanist & Educator, Melbourne School of Design

13:15 “Hemp to the rescue.” Doug Rennie, Farmer

27:00 “Buildings as habitat.” Joost Bakker, Zero-waste innovator

39:45 “Climates and the housing insurance crisis.” Paula Jarzabkowski, Professor of Strategic Management, University of Queensland.

51:30 “Rethinking and reusing big buildings.” Sam Pear, Sustainability Engineer, Hassell Studios

The series of interviews was presented on 24 May 2025 at the Regenerative Futures Studio, Woodleigh School as part of Melbourne Design Week 2025.

We thank the ClimateRelay panellists, and Woodleigh School for their part in the ClimateRelay Building program and look forward to sharing their insights later in the series:

Janis Fischer, Landscape Architect, Tract Consultants & Nature Based Cities Advisory Councillor

Frank Burridge, Architect, Main& Frank

Dan Hill, Designer, Urbanist & Educator, Melbourne School of Design

Special thanks also to

Ewan McEoin, Senior Curator, Contemporary Art Design and Architecture, National Gallery of Victoria

David Baker, Principal, and the staff of Woodleigh School

Creative Victoria

We acknowledge that we work and create on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung and Boon Wurrung People and we pay our respects to their Elders, past and present. Always was. Always will be.

www.climate360.com.au