Israel's miltary annihilation of Gaza and the Palestinian population has been described as the world’s first live-streamed genocide. While the horrific loss of human life and catastrophic humanitarian conditions imposed on Palestinian people have dominated mainstream media output, other crises are also unfolding.  This week’s episode of Earth Matters explores the ongoing destruction of Palestinian land and waters through war, colonisation and climate change, and the role of the Palestinian environmental movement in the worldwide struggle for justice for colonised peoples.Guest: Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh is the Founder, and (volunteer) Director of the Palestine Museum of Natural History and Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University in Occupied Palestine. He is a 2025 Nobel Peace Prize nominee. You can connect with Professor Qumsiyeh and the Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability by: emailing [email protected] @mazin.qumsiyeh.9 or @PIBS.PMNHInformation on how to volunteer at the Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability can be found here. This week's show was produced and presented by Claudia Craig. Image credit: Judith Peppard

How do we tell stories about a world in climate crisis?  What is the role of writers and storytellers at this critical ecological time? And do the narratives we tell drive climate action or exacerbate the doom and gloom? This week on Earth Matters we hear from two Australian climate advocates grappling with these very questions.   Gen Z millennial Connie Gamble is a Masters student of Public Policy and Management and Wattle Sustainability Fellow at the University of Melbourne. Her current project uses memory as a storytelling tool to build connection to place.  Lauren Fuge is a passionate climate activist whose journey from science writer to author speaks to the role of writing as an agent of change. We chat to her about this journey, her book  Voyagers: Our Journey into the Anthropocene as well as her PhD exploring creative forms of climate communication.  Acknowledgements Audio featuring Connie Gamble and Kumi Naidoo is kindly broadcast courtesy of the Wattle Fellowship, University of Melbourne.  Kumi Naidoo was the keynote speaker at the 2025 Wattle Fellowship Spotlight Series event at University of Melbourne, June 2025.  For more details about the Wattle Fellowship Program see: https://www.unimelb.edu.au/wattlefellowship You can follow Connie Gamble's memory project on instagram @sedimentary.lives Voyagers: Our Journey into the Anthropocene by Lauren Fuge is published by Text Publishing. This week's show is #1523 and was produced by Claudia Craig.

On today’s show, we hear from two first nations advocates from the frontlines of the climate battle. They touch on climate change impacts in their communities; their fight to protect Country, and why First Nations voices must be front and centre.  Rosaline Parker is a Pasifika advocate and cultural consultant based in Western Sydney. Her work includes empowering young pacific leaders to engage in meaningful advocacy, as well as climate justice initiatives in Tuvalu and Kiribati, in partnership with the Tuvalu Climate Action Network. Kabay Tamu was one of eight Torres Strait Islanders who took a world-first human rights case against the Australian government for its inaction on climate change. He is a Councillor for the Torres Strait Island Regional Council and advocates for the rights of islanders through the Our Islands Our Home campaign.This webinar was organised by seed national Indigenous climate network.  Earth Matters #1522 was produced by Mia Audrey.

This episode of Earth Matters investigates the toxic legacy of waste on stolen Aboriginal land, from the radioactive scars of nuclear testing and uranium mining to the invisible spread of PFAS “forever chemicals” in our waterways. Drawing on stories from Maralinga, Kakadu, and the Blue Mountains, and with a personal reflection on Wreck Bay, the program explores how contamination doesn’t just harm health—it severs cultural ties, disrupts food systems, and undermines sovereignty.Through a First Nations lens, we uncover the common thread running through these crises: governments and corporations treating Country as expendable, while communities are left to live with intergenerational impacts. Yet resistance remains strong, from Mirarr opposition to uranium mines, to Barngarla victories against nuclear dumps, to communities fighting for accountability on PFAS.Toxic Waste on Stolen Land is a call to recognise the colonial roots of environmental contamination and to stand with First Nations peoples demanding justice, protection of Country, and an end to sacrifice zones.

Georgia and Angel from Seed introduce Australia’s indigenous youth climate action movement, their activities, and strategic plan for the next three years and goals to:to ban fracking in the Kimberley,a ban on fossil fuels across the continent,a significant presence at COP31 train 500 young peopleand more !Donate here  to help Seed achieve its goals

This week on Earth Matters we put the spotlight on the devastating South Australian algal phenomena that is rocking communities and scientists. While the causes of the bloom are becoming clearer, there are many unknowns, making the future difficult to predict. Ngarrindjeri elder Derek Walker is among the many facing uncertainty arising from the bloom. He is a sustainable fisherman harvesting kutis - or pipis - as they are more widely known - on the Coorong.  Shellfishing has been a part of Ngarrindjeri life for millenia. But with toxins infiltrating the seafloor where the kuti grow, operations are in shutdown and the local Ngarrindjeri who work there are off the water. Derek Walker speaks about the impact of the algal bloom on kuti harvesting, cultural tourism and community. In this episode of Earth Matters we speak to:- Ngarrindjeri elder and Kuti and Co director, Derek Walker - Dr Scott Bennett, marine ecology expert from the University of Tasmania (interview conducted by 3CR Breakfast presenter Sonia Randhawa) SA Government Fact Sheet SA Government Advice (including health and food safety advice)

Dr Radha Wagle started life caring for goats in a Nepalese village.  She tells her story, how she came from there to lead Nepal's delegation in international climate negotiations. Radha somehow manages to find humour in  the  challenges women face in leadership roles within environmental sectors.Sophie Hardefeldt talks about the need for feminist system change to ensure women's voices are heard and outlines some practical ways to achieve that.Guests:Dr Radha Wagle – Biodiversity and Climate Adaptation Specialist, Glen Eira City Council, Victoria; formerly Director General, Department of Plant Resources, Ministry of Forests and Environment, Nepal. Sophie Hardefeldt   – Policy and Research Manager, ActionAid Australia.Earth Matters #1518  was produced by Bec Horridge in collaboration with the Womens Climate Congress

Earth Matters presents local, national and international grassroots perspectives on environmental concerns and broadcasts weekly to a national audience since 1996. In this episode, host Keiran interviews Manju from the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance and discusses the importance of the upcoming annual ANFA conference.Links mentioned in show:https://australianmap.netwww.foe.org,au/anfa_donatehttps://cms.apln.network/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Green-Hawkins-January-2024.pdf

"So we refuse that idea that we can accept any forms of gender-based violence and any forms that kill ourselves, other species and the living planet." Noelene Nabulivou, Pacific Islands Feminist Alliance for Climate Justice Fiji Every day around the globe women are protecting and defending human rights and nature. At the recent Global Women's Assembly for Climate Justice (link is external) grassroots and frontline women leaders from fifty countries gathered virtually to speak about solutions for climate and humanity. They demonstrate the collective strength of women as diverse intersectional climate leaders resisting, disrupting and transforming systems of power.In this episode of Earth Matters we share excerpts from three of the one hundred and twenty-five voices from the Climate Assembly forum: Turtle Island USA native rights activist Yolanda Fulmer (Tlingit) speaks about indigenous experiences of climate change in the Tongass rainforest, Alaska. Nigerian researcher and ecofeminist Adenike Titilope Oladosu speaks about climate injustice for women in sub-Saharan Africa. Adenike is the Founder/Director of the I-Lead Climate Action Initiative and Fellow of The New Institute in Hamburg Germany on Black Feminism and the Polycrisis. Pacific human rights activist and leader of the Pacific Islands Feminist Alliance for Climate Justice Fiji , Noelene Nabulivou explains how applying a feminist lens increases women’s participation in transformative change when it comes to climate justice.  The event was organised by the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (link is external)(WECAN) in the lead-up to COP30 in Brazil this November. Image credit: Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) Full recordings from the Climate Assembly available here. The event schedule is a useful guide. Further reading: Why Women? The Crucial Role of Women at the Center of Climate Solutions How gender inequality and climate change are interconnected

It’s been three months since we sent a clear message at the ballot box: climate action matters. In the lead-up, communities fought hard, running creative actions, countering fossil fuels propaganda and mobilising people to have impactful conversations.  In this episode, we hear stories from the frontlines of the energy election, about what unified communities in the fight for renewables. We need to keep mobilising; keep holding decision-makers to account; and sustaining these efforts means pausing at key moments to reflect, celebrate wins, and learn from what worked. Adrian Cosgriff is a former oil and gas industry worker, and member of Nuclear Free Gippsland. Ali Gerritsen is a community organiser with Good for the Gong. The Beyond the Ballet webinar was organised by Friends of the Earth’s Yes2Renewables campaign and hosted by NSW Y2R organiser Anna Mackiewicz. Earth Matters #1513 was produced by Mia Audrey on Wurunjderi Woi Wurrung country.