Earth Matters

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.

"So many different voices” is about the ways that we bring diverse voices into all the roomsFive speakers representing student women, rural women, First Nations women, women with disabilities, and older women share their experiences of how to bring these marginalized voices into climate discussions, negotiations, and decisions to achieve better outcomes.Conference participants from the Victorian Womens Climate Congress provide feedback on what they learned from the speakers in breakout groups.A wealth of wisdom about inclusion is shared.Guests:• Ellie Venning—National Union of Students' Women's Officer• Keli McDonald—CEO, National Rural Women’s Coalition.• Chloe Wegener—Project Officer, Wiyi Yani U Thangani First Nations Gender Justice Institute, Australian National University• Beverly Baker, CEO—Older Women’s Network• Clare Gibellini—Policy Officer, Women With Disabilities Australia (online) This week's show is #1513 and was produced by Bec Horridge on Dja Dja Wurung country in Castlemaine.

Australia’s most prolific killer isn’t a mining company or a bulldozer — it’s the common cat. Feral and domestic cats are responsible for over 2 billion native animal deaths every year, pushing species to extinction and decimating ecosystems across the continent. In this hard-hitting episode, Keiran Stewart-Assheton exposes the scale of the cat crisis, busts myths about pet cats, and lays down a no-compromise call to action. If we don’t act now, we lose more than species — we lose Country.

Climate change is upon us. We are the first responders. How will we keep each other safe? How will we meet our needs? Who gets to have a say? These questions, and many others, are being tackled by everyday people in the movement for climate adaptation. In their stories is a wealth of inspiration, as well as crucial knowledge for an increasingly pressing project.  If you, along with me, and three quarters of the population, live in an urban area, stories of bushfires and flooding may feel far away. This show will hit closer to home: we’ll hear from urban champions of the movement about why and how we need to prepare ourselves.  Carmen Lahiff-Jenkins is the Climate Justice Coordinator at Darebin Neighbourhood House Network, which consists of seven neighbourhood houses in Narrm’s (melbourne’s) inner north. In 2022, the Network developed a Climate Action & Resilience Plan. Shweta Kawatra Dakin is the Manager of Resilient Communities at GenWest, a family violence support service in Narrm’s (melbourne’s) west. Since 2022, her team has been running Our Community, Our Voice, a flood resilience and recovery program that supports refugee and migrant women and their families affected by the 2022 floods in Maribyrnong. Rebecca Abernethy is the coordinator of enliven’s Multicultural Heat Heroes project, collaborating with multicultural community ambassadors to build climate resilience among priority language groups in Narrm’s (melbourne’s) southeast.  Elena Pereyra is a councillor for Maribyrnong City Council and co-chair of Cohousing Australia, a grassroots group that works with communities, government agencies, and industry to promote collective models of housing, housing diversity, and housing choice.  The Climate Adaptation Fair took place at Borderlands Cooperative in Narrm (melbourne), as part of the National Sustainability Festival. It was organised by Friends of the Earth’s Act on Climate collective. Earth Matters #1510 was produced by Mia Audrey on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people.

We are living on a compromised planet. Alongside acting to slow the pace of change, we have to adapt; and prepare for increasingly challenging conditions. Communities everywhere are already doing this, often independent of - and in spite of - the actions of their governments. On this show, and next month, I share some examples of community-led climate adaptation on this continent. You’ll hear how individuals and organisations are working to build resilience, respond collectively to climate impacts, and prepare for escalating disaster. Amanda Kelly is the CEO of Women’s Health Goulburn North East, a feminist organisation based in North-east Victoria which co-produced a research report on disaster resilience called ‘Care Through Disaster’.  Sasha Mainbridge is a resident of Mullumbimby, in the flood-prone Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. She is the founder and president of Mullum Cares, a non-profit organisation that focuses on resource conservation. Catherine Strong is an associate professor in the RMIT University’s Music Industry program. She researches extensively on industry work conditions, gender in music and the impacts of the climate emergency. The Climate Adaptation Fair took place at Borderlands Cooperative in Footscray, Narrm (melbourne), as part of the National Sustainability Festival. It was organised by Friends of the Earth’s Act on Climate collective.Earth Matters #1509 was produced by Mia Audrey.

Food sovereignty is the ability to make informed choices about our food, to define our own food systems, and to access healthy, culturally appropriate food that is produced sustainably. Food sovereignty puts the needs of the people who produce and consume food at the heart of food systems, and is key to addressing the overlapping crises of climate, hunger and inequality.  On this show, you’ll hear some ways this is put into practice, through the work of four different food initiatives and advocacy groups operating in ‘Australia’.The Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) is a farmer-led civil society organisation of people working together towards socially-just and ecologically-sound food and agriculture systems that foster the democratic participation of Indigenous Peoples, smallholders, and local communities in decision making processes.Supporticulture Cooperative is a specialised disability cooperative based in Greensborough that provides agricultural work opportunities for people living with intellectual or physical disabilities. Its public face, Caring Farms Cooperative, is an agroecological food enterprise in Greensborough, featuring a market garden tended by a collective of people living with disabilities and their supporters. The Just Food Collective is a not-for-profit advocacy organisation founded in 2021 by emerging food systems leaders. Comprised of graduates in Food Studies, ex-hospitality workers, young researchers and people working in advocacy and grassroots organisations, Just Food mobilises youth and future leaders in the battle for a more equitable, just, and sustainable food system. Guerilla Gardening Narrm is a collective creating community gardens on public land in Narrm, Melbourne. Their first garden, the Radicle Roots garden, was established in 2023 in De Chene Reserve, Coburg. The project aims to respond to the escalating cost-of-living and climate crises by creating localised food systems grounded in 'the commons'. Organisers of the Food Sovereignty Day put together a thorough list of reading materials, podcasts, videos and food sovereignty groups.Earth Matters #1508 was produced by Mia Audrey on Wurunjderi Woi Wurrung Country.

Genocide and ecocide are not separate crimes — they are two sides of the same colonial system that has brought the planet to the brink of collapse. From the invasion of these lands to the global climate crisis, colonialism is an engine of ecocide. But Indigenous peoples, here and around the world, continue to resist — defending lands, waters, and all life. Because if the destruction of Country continues, it will be suicide for the planet. But through decolonisation, land back, and Indigenous leadership, a path to survival is still possible. Tune in for this powerful episode.

Vicky Ellmore is an organiser from the Act on Climate initiative within Friends of the Earth Melbourne. Vicky joined us to chat about the need for climate adaptations,  and findings from recent research undertaken by Friends of the Earth. Find their  report about climate adaptation here.Aawa is from Kinglake Friends of the Forest (KFF), a volunteer community group committed to protecting native forests and relishing the joy of their unique biodiversity. Since the end of VicForests, KFF have turned their attention to the industrial burning of forests the occurs under the guise of bushfire management.Find their petition here. See the transcript below.Earth Matters #1507 was produced by Bec Horridge