The Sustainable Hour no 356

In The Tunnel on 31 March 2021, we meet with three guests and a youth reporter who enlighten us about helpful cosmic dust and shifts in theology, a positive transformation in the business of food, and how to have a healthy, not harmful, and circular holiday:

Firstly, we have a dynamic duo with a strong connection to the Sisters of Mercy: Geelong’s own Margie Abbott and her colleague from Bathurst, Sally Neaves. They both do that order of nuns proud in their roles as educators, writers and motivators. They have worked together for years, very comfortable doing so, and both were heavily involved in organising a recent global Laudato Si’ conference and they speak very enthusiastically of its highlights. Here’s the song ‘After the Final No’ by Kathy Sherman, and the film series on the Formation of the Noosphere, which Margie mentions. We round off the interview with a song written by archbishop Peter Loy Chong: ‘Climate Change Lament’.

We have covered Laudato Si’ often since it came out over five years ago. For those who aren’t familiar with it, it is a 180-page letter written by the head of the Catholic church, Pope Francis, on why his church needs to be part of a united approach to the climate emergency we all face, plus suggestions on how this should happen.

Accompanying Margie and Sally today is Sharon Natoli. Sharon is a speaker, optimist, visionary thinker, and author of the book ‘Food for a Better Future – a new direction for the global business of food’. In July 2020 she also released ‘The Virtual Lunch Room – Conversations About the Future of Food’. Sharon shares insights about the future of food with leaders, investors and innovators in the food sector to assist them to align strategy, decision making and culture with the evolution of the conscious consumer, the expectations of the ethical investor and the principles of the purpose driven business. She is a founding director of Food & Nutrition Australia and speaks locally, globally and virtually at conferences and events about the future of food.

For a start today, Colin Mockett‘s Global Outlook zooms us into the country intrinsically linked to the fossil fuel industry, the oil rich Saudi Arabia. We hear about their Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman‘s recent announcement on their very ambitious green recovery plan, part of which includes billions of trees being planted abd their renewable energy target, both of which put our Australian government to shame.