The Climate Council Podcast

The Climate Council and its reports are powered by the collective experience of some of the world’s most talented climate scientists, energy sector veterans and environmental experts. This episode is the very first in the ‘Meet the Council Series’ featuring Climate Councillor and policy and economics specialist, Professor Karen Hussey.

Professor Karen Hussey is a leading Australian researcher in the field of public policy and governance, particularly in the areas of sustainable development, environmental policy and international trade.

Episode 14 hears how climate change and climate solutions became a common thread throughout Professor Hussey’s academic career and how she soon put her expert political and economic skills into practice.

Presented by Alexia Boland with expert guest Climate Councillor Professor Karen Hussey. 

The Great Barrier Reef could be hit with catastrophic bleaching every two years by 2034, under current greenhouse gas pollution levels, according to the latest report from the Climate Council today.

The ‘Lethal Consequences: Climate Change Impacts on the Great Barrier Reef’ report shows the future survival of coral reefs around the world, including the Great Barrier Reef, depends on how deeply and swiftly greenhouse gas pollution levels are slashed over the coming years and decades.

The report also highlights that  accelerating climate change has driven a 54 per cent increase in the number of marine heatwave days each year, placing global reefs at serious risk.

Presented by Alexia Boland with expert guests Climate Councillor and ecologist Professor Lesley Hughes, Climate Council Acting CEO Dr Martin Rice and Douglas Shire Council Mayor, Cr Julia Leu.

Essential Media Research shows that the majority of people think Australia isn’t doing enough to address climate change, and view the Federal  Government as having a key role in both the problem and the solution.

With national decisions on climate solutions such as Australia’s transition to clean renewable energy and battery storage, seemingly out of the hands of everyday Aussies (and left to those in power), people often ask us here at the Climate Council what they can do to help slash  the nation’s rising greenhouse gas pollution levels – and this episode tells you how! 

Presented by Alexia Boland with expert guest Climate Councillor and climate scientist Professor Will Steffen.

Find out more about how you can help tackle climate change here.

Queensland is currently Australia’s hotspot for land clearing, accounting for between 50-65% of native forest loss in Australia over the past four decades, and generating millions of tonnes of greenhouse pollution.

The Climate Council’s report “Climate Change and Land Clearing: Risks and Opportunities in the Sunshine State’’, shows that more than one million hectares of woody vegetation, an area more than seven times larger than the size of Queensland’s capital of Brisbane, was cleared between 2012 and 2016.

In May this year, the Queensland Government took a significant step forward, passing new land-clearing laws that will strengthen the Sunshine’s State’s protection of vegetation, a move that will also do good things when it comes to tackling climate change.

But how does land clearing affect climate change? We speak to Climate Councillor and climate scientist Professor Will Steffen to break down how clearing impacts greenhouse gas pollution levels here in Australia.

Presented by Alexia Boland.

The Arctic has just experienced its fourth year in a row of soaring winter temperatures, driven by intensifying climate change.

Research shows arctic sea ice reached record lows in January and February this year, with an area of ice equivalent to the size of the Northern Territory shrinking after severe heatwaves hit the region in winter.

Presented by Alexia Boland featuring expert guest Climate Councillor and climate scientist Professor Will Steffen.

For more information check out the Climate Council Factsheet ‘Climate Change and Soaring Arctic Winter Temperatures’.

Australian businesses are jumping on board the renewables boom, with almost half of the nation’s major companies making the switch to clean, affordable and reliable renewable energy, in a bid to take control of their power bills and tackle intensifying climate change.

The Climate Council’s ‘Renewables & Business: Cutting Prices & Pollution’ report shows that the number of Australian businesses installing solar power increased by 60% over 2016 and 2017, while total business solar capacity has more than doubled since 2016.

Presented by Alexia Boland with expert guest Climate Council Senior Energy Analyst Petra Stock.

Australia’s most popular tourist destinations are in the firing line, with intensifying climate change posing a significant threat to the nation’s iconic natural wonders.

The Climate Council’s ‘Icons at Risk: Climate Change Threatening Australian Tourism’ report shows Australia’s top five natural tourist attractions could be hit by extreme heatwaves, increasing temperatures, rising sea-levels, coastal flooding and catastrophic coral bleaching.

Australia’s iconic beaches, wilderness areas, national parks and the Great Barrier Reef are the most vulnerable hotspots, while our unique native wildlife is also at risk, as climate change accelerates.

The key findings also highlight that some of Australia’s most popular natural destinations could become no-go zones during peak holiday periods and seasons, with the potential for extreme temperatures to reach up to 50 degrees in Sydney and Melbourne.

Presented by Alexia Boland with expert guests Climate Councillor and ecologist Professor Lesley Hughes and Climate Council Acting CEO Dr Martin Rice.

Read the full report ‘Icons at Risk: Climate Change Threatening Australian Tourism’, released on February 14, 2018.

Australia’s greenhouse gas pollution levels have jumped yet again, with the latest batch of government data confirming the nation’s emissions have been on the rise for three consecutive years.

The 1.5 per cent jump in greenhouse gas pollution levels (over the last year to December 2017), comes after the Federal Government failed to introduce any funding measures to tackle intensifying climate change in the 2018 Budget.

Australia is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in the developed world, with worsening extreme weather events including heatwaves, supercharged storms, heavy rainfall, flooding, droughts and bushfires.

Presented by Alexia Boland with expert guest Climate Council Acting CEO Dr Martin Rice.

Get the latest news and facts on climate change and extreme weather here.

In October 2017, climate scientists from the Australian National University released damning data predicting Australia’s biggest cities could experience unprecedented extreme heat by the end of the century.

The research expects cities like Sydney and Melbourne could be hit with sweltering conditions reaching as high as 50 degrees, all as a result of worsening climate change.

Already in Australia, climate change is driving more frequent and intense extreme weather, including heatwaves, supercharged storms, droughts, and bushfires, along with the back-to-back bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef.

Today, climate change fuelled severe heatwaves are already placing our electricity grid at risk, with ageing coal and gas power stations struggling to cope when the temperatures rise.

Presented by Alexia Boland with expert guests Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie and Climate Councillor and energy expert Professor Andrew Stock.

To read more about coal in Australia visit this page.

Australia’s transition to clean, affordable and reliable renewable energy and battery storage technology is well underway.

And as the boom continues, a recent Climate Council energy report shows that this 21st Century technology can power the national economy, through providing secure and reliable electricity, on demand, 24/7.

Within a decade, over two thirds of coal power stations in Australia’s national electricity market will be 50 years or older, making these polluting generators technically obsolete, increasingly unreliable and extremely expensive to maintain.

Presented by Alexia Boland with expert guests Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie and Climate Councillor and energy expert Professor Andrew Stock.

Read the Climate Council’s ‘Powering a 21st Century Economy: Secure, Clean, Affordable Electricity’ report.