Climate360° : a changing climate's impact & brilliant people making a difference

For over a decade Australia’s clean energy policy stagnated during the climate wars, leaving the country effectively without an energy policy. While things have improved, we are still moving too slow. This episode will explore why. Most importantly, it will explore why our politicians are so unwilling to commit to an energy transition at the speed and scale that most Australian’s want. And why our fossil fuel industries remain so unstoppably powerful.

We sit down with Zali Steggall to find out more about Canberra’s politics of power and ask what are the carrots and sticks to drive change in the Australian energy network. What works best—positive incentives or tough regulation? What role do independents play in pushing for greater ambition? How do we differentiate between misleading ‘astro-turfing’ by vested interests who misinform and stir dissent in communities, and the genuine need to engage the public in the need for new forms of power generation and infrastructure?

These are some of the questions we’ll be exploring, when focusing on what hope there is for COP31 later this year.

Zali Steggall OAM, MP is the Independent Member of Parliament for the Federal seat of Warringah, New South Wales. Learn more about her at zalisteggall.com.au

climate360.com.au

Of all the different ways we can act to help mitigate climate change, with what we eat, how we build and what we buy, nothing is more critical to climate change than the urgent need to transition away from carbon-intensive fossil fuels. That is why our third series of conversations on Climate360º focuses squarely on clean energy and the end of coal, oil and gas.

Our first guest is a powerful and uncompromising voice for that transition. Saul Griffith is an MIT-trained engineer, founder of Rewiring Australia and Rewiring America, recipient of the MacArthur “Genius Grant”, and the author of The Big Switch — a blueprint for electrifying Australia from the power grid to the family car. He is, in short, a force of nature.

Interestingly, Griffith now spends less time in the lab than he once did. While there is still important work to be done, improving clean energy technologies, driving down costs, expanding their reach, Griffith argues that the big challenges are no longer primarily technical. Policy is the battleground now, not the lab.

This may be a good thing. After all, politicians are answerable to the electorate. You.

Without underestimating the scale of change that is needed, and without letting the big polluters off the hook, Griffith emphasises how much agency ordinary people hold. How we spend our money, who we vote for, what products we support, and what we choose to be informed by — all of it has the potential to move the dial on climate action, and on the speed with which we can complete the transition to clean energy.

Learn more about Saul’s work by subscribing to his podcast The Shameless Plug, visiting his website rewiringaustralia.org or subscribing to his blog on Substack!

Saul Griffith Andrew Mackenzie

There is a growing connection between anxiety and an increased engagement with the changing climate.

In this episode of Climate360°, hosts Andrew Mackenzie and Sam Redston sit down with Bronwyn Gresham — clinical psychologist and CEO of Psychology for a Safe Climate — to explore what’s really going on beneath the surface when we engage with the climate crisis.

Bronwyn unpacks the full spectrum of climate emotions: anxiety, ecological grief, guilt, and burnout — and explains why the familiar advice of “just take action” isn’t enough on its own. She shares a three-part framework for climate mental health (regenerative action, self-care, and emotional engagement) and makes the case for Climate Cafés as a thoughtful and transformative capacity-building tool for the community.If you've ever felt the weight of the climate news cycle — or wondered how to hold hope and despair at the same time — this one's for you.Visit https://www.psychologyforasafeclimate.org to learn more about their work, how to join a Climate Cafe and a growing library of resources that are available to support your mental wellbeing.

See you at a Climate Cafe near you soon!

In the most recent Climate Change Performance Index (2025), Australia has dropped two ranks to 52nd place. But a recent emboldening of Federal government may see that negative trend reverse. This interview unpacks Australia’s current climate policy platform, and while being a long way from perfect, the positive changes occurring in Australia’s performance. We will look at how research can help inform good policy, and what policy levers look likely to deliver best outcomes

Climateworks is taking on the transition to net zero emissions. They guide decisions from government, companies and institutions that can reduce emissions at the scale and pace needed during this critical decade.

Anna heads the Australian Country Context team which takes an outward facing approach to enhance Climateworks’ understanding of the political and economic landscape. Anna focuses on influencing policy and investment, and managing relationships with senior stakeholders. Her role includes building our ability to partner with stakeholders and funders, supporting external partners to engage across the full range of our work and ensuring our teams make the most of opportunities to create systems change.

Prior to Climateworks, Anna was Assistant Director at the Climate Change Authority. She also worked on climate policy, including as Director of the Climate Action Network Australia and in the Victorian Government. Anna’s climate policy expertise builds on her policy roles in the UK government on environment and sustainable development. She also has experience in international development – including working in Latin America – and in urban conservation.

Anna holds a Masters in Forestry and Land Use from Oxford University and a Bachelor in Ecological Science (Ecology Hons) from Edinburgh University. She also completed post-graduate modules in Urban Regeneration at the University of London.

Find Anna’s work in The Conversation

Find Anna’s work on Researchgate

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

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.