Welcome to The Sustainable Hour #324. In The Tunnel on 22 July 2020 we meet three artists, who use their art to make a difference and push their ideas somewhere new:

Our first guest is choir maester Stephen Tabener. Stephen has been leading community choirs for many years. He tells us what he’s been doing during lockdown when he has experimented with a new tunnel project he calls the ‘Massive Singlet’, examplifying the amazing creativity that has been unleashed via Zoom while we’ve been in the grip of Covid-19. Stephen sees singing as an important part of protest rallies and community development, and attests to its proud tradition all over the world.

We welcome 13-year-old singer Rory Phillips as he talks about the creation of his latest song ‘The Truth’. Rory, accompanied by his proud mum Samantha Taylor, impresses with a maturity far in excess of his years. We will be watching his progress with a great deal of interest. We couldn’t resist playing his song as he left us.

In the run up to the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem on 26 July, we reconnect with mangrove expert and artist Zahidah Zeytoun Millie. Zahidah has studied and drawn mangroves all over the world. In a covid-free world, we would be getting ready for the mangrove arts festival ‘Mangroves from the Water’ that she has been preparing for over several years. But not to be deterred, she is carrying on. In her spare time she is doing a PhD on her passion. Zahidah tells us how her festival plans are going as she launches a poster competition to promote the festival that’s been put back 12 months.

Colin Mockett‘s Global Outlook today looks at three items. We hear about the bold plans that the Democratic candidate for the upcoming US Presidential election, Joe Biden, has recently announced. The environmental agenda he would bring in if he won the presidency will cost $2 trillion. They will create many jobs and they will allow the United States to meet its global responsibilities concerning reducing their carbon emissions. This bold plan is in stark contrast to the Trump administration’s inability to take the climate crisis seriously.

Earlier this year, Colin told us about the low prices that oil had reached. Today he tells the same story about Australia’s liquified natural gas. Australia is the world’s largest exporter of this product, but prices are so low that a third of the ships carrying the gas are just storing it. They are waiting in the hope that the price will increase. Observers of the market is saying that the fossil fuel age is reaching its endgame.

Colin also reports about tensions within our LNP government. The last manifestation of this is the decision about who should be on the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) committee. A chairperson has been chosen but the makeup of the rest of his committee is far from settled as their ideological fault lines once again show themselves.

That’s us for another week. If you like what we do, feel free to share us far and wide. And as the week progresses,

Welcome to The Sustainable Hour #324. In The Tunnel on 22 July 2020 we meet three artists, who use their art to make a difference and push their ideas somewhere new:

Our first guest is choir maester Stephen Tabener. Stephen has been leading community choirs for many years. He tells us what he’s been doing during lockdown when he has experimented with a new tunnel project he calls the ‘Massive Singlet’, examplifying the amazing creativity that has been unleashed via Zoom while we’ve been in the grip of Covid-19. Stephen sees singing as an important part of protest rallies and community development, and attests to its proud tradition all over the world.

We welcome 13-year-old singer Rory Phillips as he talks about the creation of his latest song ‘The Truth’. Rory, accompanied by his proud mum Samantha Taylor, impresses with a maturity far in excess of his years. We will be watching his progress with a great deal of interest. We couldn’t resist playing his song as he left us.

In the run up to the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem on 26 July, we reconnect with mangrove expert and artist Zahidah Zeytoun Millie. Zahidah has studied and drawn mangroves all over the world. In a covid-free world, we would be getting ready for the mangrove arts festival ‘Mangroves from the Water’ that she has been preparing for over several years. But not to be deterred, she is carrying on. In her spare time she is doing a PhD on her passion. Zahidah tells us how her festival plans are going as she launches a poster competition to promote the festival that’s been put back 12 months.

Colin Mockett‘s Global Outlook today looks at three items. We hear about the bold plans that the Democratic candidate for the upcoming US Presidential election, Joe Biden, has recently announced. The environmental agenda he would bring in if he won the presidency will cost $2 trillion. They will create many jobs and they will allow the United States to meet its global responsibilities concerning reducing their carbon emissions. This bold plan is in stark contrast to the Trump administration’s inability to take the climate crisis seriously.

Earlier this year, Colin told us about the low prices that oil had reached. Today he tells the same story about Australia’s liquified natural gas. Australia is the world’s largest exporter of this product, but prices are so low that a third of the ships carrying the gas are just storing it. They are waiting in the hope that the price will increase. Observers of the market is saying that the fossil fuel age is reaching its endgame.

Colin also reports about tensions within our LNP government. The last manifestation of this is the decision about who should be on the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) committee. A chairperson has been chosen but the makeup of the rest of his committee is far from settled as their ideological fault lines once again show themselves.

That’s us for another week. If you like what we do, feel free to share us far and wide. And as the week progresses,

The Danish Energy company Ørsted was the first fossil fuel producer to ditch its traditional business — and go all in with renewables. The bet has paid off – with its market cap now approaching BP, Devapriyo Das from Ørsted explains to WeDontHaveTime

Podcast by Mik Aidt on 19 July 2020: The Sustainable Business Hour

About how quickly the story in the global business community is changing at the moment – and in that regard, from a Geelong perspective: also about why Viva Energy’s and Richard Marles’ ideas about investing money in gas increasingly looks like a very bad idea.

Fossils going downBP will write down the value of its assets by as much as $17.5 billion in the second quarter of 2020 — some 20 per cent of its market capitalisation, because a number of BP’s assets are simply no longer economic. Big Oil’s predicament is an extreme example of the challenge facing every corporation as economies move to a low-carbon future, wrote the editorial board of Financial Times: 

→ Financial Times – 16 June 2020: Big Oil faces up to a future beyond petroleum “The pandemic is set to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels”

Compare that development with what is happening for the Danish energy company Ørsted. Ten years ago Ørsted was one the most fossil fuel intense energy companies in Europe. Today, the company has cut its emissions by 86 per cent and is ranked the most sustainable energy company in the world. As the graph shows, Ørsted’s share value keep rising, while BP’s is tumbling down.

“This shows what “net zero 2050” basically means: nothing. We need drastic emission cuts at the source, starting today. Not empty words and shameless lies.”~ Greta Thunberg, 13 February 2020

Ørsted’s communication advisor says he can see no reason why other power companies should not set out on a similar journey.

”What we have tried to do over the past ten years is to radically transform our business. We have gone from being a traditional energy company, which had interest in coal, oil and gas, to become one of the largest renewable energy companies in the world, with 90 per cent of our revenues coming from renewable energy assets”, Devapriyo Das, Senior Communication Advisor for Sustainability at Ørsted, told the audience during an online panel discussion.

Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs 6,500 people. In 2019, the group’s revenue was 9.1 billion euro.

In the United Kingdom, 20 major retailers, including M&S, Next and Boots, have pledged to hit net-zero emissions before the UK target of 2050. This target includes the supply chain, so there will be increased pressure on manufacturers of consumer goods to tackle their carbon footprint. 

Germany announced earlier this year that it is ...

The Danish Energy company Ørsted was the first fossil fuel producer to ditch its traditional business — and go all in with renewables. The bet has paid off – with its market cap now approaching BP, Devapriyo Das from Ørsted explains to WeDontHaveTime

Podcast by Mik Aidt on 19 July 2020: The Sustainable Business Hour

About how quickly the story in the global business community is changing at the moment – and in that regard, from a Geelong perspective: also about why Viva Energy’s and Richard Marles’ ideas about investing money in gas increasingly looks like a very bad idea.

Fossils going downBP will write down the value of its assets by as much as $17.5 billion in the second quarter of 2020 — some 20 per cent of its market capitalisation, because a number of BP’s assets are simply no longer economic. Big Oil’s predicament is an extreme example of the challenge facing every corporation as economies move to a low-carbon future, wrote the editorial board of Financial Times: 

→ Financial Times – 16 June 2020: Big Oil faces up to a future beyond petroleum “The pandemic is set to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels”

Compare that development with what is happening for the Danish energy company Ørsted. Ten years ago Ørsted was one the most fossil fuel intense energy companies in Europe. Today, the company has cut its emissions by 86 per cent and is ranked the most sustainable energy company in the world. As the graph shows, Ørsted’s share value keep rising, while BP’s is tumbling down.

“This shows what “net zero 2050” basically means: nothing. We need drastic emission cuts at the source, starting today. Not empty words and shameless lies.”~ Greta Thunberg, 13 February 2020

Ørsted’s communication advisor says he can see no reason why other power companies should not set out on a similar journey.

”What we have tried to do over the past ten years is to radically transform our business. We have gone from being a traditional energy company, which had interest in coal, oil and gas, to become one of the largest renewable energy companies in the world, with 90 per cent of our revenues coming from renewable energy assets”, Devapriyo Das, Senior Communication Advisor for Sustainability at Ørsted, told the audience during an online panel discussion.

Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs 6,500 people. In 2019, the group’s revenue was 9.1 billion euro.

In the United Kingdom, 20 major retailers, including M&S, Next and Boots, have pledged to hit net-zero emissions before the UK target of 2050. This target includes the supply chain, so there will be increased pressure on manufacturers of consumer goods to tackle their carbon footprint. 

Germany announced earlier this year that it is ...

The Sustainable Hour no 323

Four guests in The Tunnel on 15 July 2020. What a packed program today!

From time to time over the last 10 weeks, Jackie Matthews has been excitedly telling us how good the ‘Nature Stewards’ course that she has been doing was. How much she has been learning and how rewarding it has been for her to do it. Today, Rustem Upton – Rusty – who facilitated that course, joins us and ends up presenting Jackie with her certificate of completion. Their subsequent chat reveals a good outline and structure of what they covered.

The course was sponsored by the City of Greater Geelong and it is hoped that this sponsorship will continue. It had to be run via zoom because of the covid-19 virus this year, but this made it no less effective according to both Jackie and Rusty. Watch this space for news of Rusty’s next Nature Stewards course in the Geelong area.

Next we zoom down to Tasmania where we meet Tasmania’s first accredited carbon farmers, Stephanie and Sam Trethaway from Tas Ag Co. This young couple are ideal ambassadors for nurturing the land as well as breaking away from the demands of “industrial farming” which to them ends up destroying the land and is in no way sustainable.

We’ve had many regenerative farmers on the show over the last 18 months. All have been explaining why they feel they are doing the right thing and wonder why more farmers aren’t going down this pathway. For Stephanie and Sam, it costs less to produce more nutritious beef for the market which pays them a premium for that. Then there’s the money they make for being paid for the invaluable role they play in storing carbon in their soil. 

We return to the YouYangs where we have Koala Clancy Foundation founder Janine Duffy telling us about the exciting plans they have to ensure our natural and national icon doesn’t become extinct. The have big plans for planting trees in the area and are looking for landowners who would like a hundred or even a thousand trees in an area of the land near a creek.

We often talk about the spark that all our guests have in their eyes – none more so than Janine. The koala numbers in our region will definitely increase on her watch.

Colin Mockett‘s Global Outlook today, as usual, is very busy. He starts out by updating the situation in Norislk in Siberia. He has been keeping a close eye on this since it first happened a month ago. Last week he told us about the army going in first to try to mop up the spilt diesel from the ocean. This week they were joined by a number of people who specialise in such clean ups. They brought fixed wing planes and helicopters to help with the operation. The fuel for these aircraft soon added to the problem. Difficult work in difficult conditions. 

Colin then takes us to the United States and gives us three examples of how their legal system is moving to overturn the Trump administration’s attempts to wind back environmental safeguards.

After this he brings us back home and talks about the increasing number of Australian companies who are announcing bold carbon reduction goals. He leaves us with a warning about looking closely at these and beware of any greenwashing in their claims.

25TH EPISODE OF THE REGENERATIVE HOUR: Can we turn the 2020s into ‘The Regenerative Decade’? In this series of interviews about what that would imply, we talk ecology, deep adaptation, grief, compassion and passion, connecting with nature, resilience, revitalisation, restoration, revolution… – the bigger picture, in other words. Today I did something I’ve never done before. I did an angry podcast, and put myself in front of the microphone most of the way. My mood was triggered by a couple things. A young climate activist took her life in Melbourne last night. A tragedy.The kind of news stories and headlines about climate science and scandalous climate inaction that have been ticking in recently are horrifying. But the complete lack of media coverage or public response that these stories are met with is possibly even more horrifying. On social media they are met with silence just as well. I have been angry and upset for many years over this topic, but have usually refrained from expressing that anger verbally. The podcast is also inspired by some kitchen conversations I’ve had with random 23-25-year-olds in my neighbourhood about how they feel about the current state of the world and their future outlook. I guess this is my way of responding to them, putting it out there, and suggesting what needs to happen now.

We hear a three-minute call for female leadership by musician Brian Eno, a democracy speech from 1940 by Charlie Chaplin, an excerpt of a TED-talk with Jane Fonda, followed by Juice Media‘s ‘After The Fire’, and Friendly Jordie‘s reasoning for why, if you haven’t already, you need to change your super annuation fund to one that doesn’t invest your future pension in the destruction of the climate.If the podcast gives any meaning to you, maybe you know someone you could share it with, and then talk about your reflections and responses with this person or these persons.

Mentioned or played in the podcast

Build an election platform for climate safety

→ BBC Rethink – 26 June 2020:Brian Eno: Rethinking The Winners“Musician Eno investigates the kinds of leadership available to us.”

Making peace with the future

“Helping each other is the key to solving many of these changes. If you sit alone, then you cling to what you know. If you are more people coming together about it, if you have a community of someone who helps you,

The Sustainable Hour no 322

Our guest in The Tunnel on 8 July 2020 is City of Greater Geelong Councillor Eddy Kontelj (enters at 33 minutes) talking about what’s up front in his environmental portfolio. He highlights key initiatives that he is overseeing such as Plastic Free July, saying goodbye to single-use plastic in Council, the planting of one million new trees in streets and parks in the city, Council’s new plan to go 100% renewables, and its purchase of 19 new emissions-free vehicles.

The interview is followed by a four-minute call to action by Geelong’s persistent climate emergency campaigner Caroline Danaher (enters at 47 minutes)

We have the 13-year-old Year 8 student Rory Phillips showing a maturity far ahead of his age as he sings and plays his recently released song, ‘Give Us The Truth’. We are so impressed with this young man.

Colin Mockett covers four topics in his Global Outlook. Firstly, the consequences of previously unheard of high temperatures in the Arctic led to a chain reaction which ended up with a huge amount of diesel oil flowing into the Arctic Sea. This was followed by soldiers being sent into the area to contain the spill and a news blackout, so we don’t have a true picture of the unfolding disaster there.

The Australian Research Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes recently released global study findings about the incidence of heat waves all over the planet. We aren’t the only country having this increasing problem in our summers.

Recent local government elections in France saw a huge increase in the vote for councillors and parties running on a green, climate-action focused agenda, and the resultant push for the recommendations of their Citizens’ Climate Convention are expected to be accepted in their entirety by the country’s president, Emmanuel Macron.

Colin contrasts the ‘green wave’ in France’s local democracy with the Australian Greens poor showing in the by-election in the Eden-Manaro electorate over the weekend. In an area which was ravaged by bushfires during the summer, The Greens’ primary vote dropped by more than 3 per cent points.

We hear the upbeat and insightful song ‘Put a Woman in Charg...

Our guests in The Tunnel on 1 July 2020 – The Sustainable Hour no 321 – are: Peter Martin, Queenscliff and Port Lonsdale Anglican minister. Five years ago, in the days when Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato Si’ had just been published, we had Peter setting a precedent on this show in creating one whole minute of silence. We’ll never forget that very special moment. Today he is back to talk about the launch on Sunday of the local chapter of the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change, ARRCC. We posted an excerpt of the interview on Youtube. Vicki Perrett and Claire Ziegler from Geelong Sustainability talking about their latest exciting project in partnership witfh Deakin University and other strong community players: building a ‘micro village’ – a small, sustainable and climate neutral social housing project in Geelong as a pilot study for others to follow.Between the two interviews, we have the very appropriately entitled song ‘Strange Days’ by Inanna.

Colin Mockett‘s Global Outlook today addresses three items:• The dire implications for the Arctic regions of the current unprecedented high temperatures. • Our Reserve Banks’s announcement over the weekend to join 66 other national Central Banks in their public warning of the horrific economic consequences of following business as usual in any stimulus packages post Covid-19.• The recent decision by a local super fund for health care workers, HESTA, to walk away from any exposure to thermal coal projects – they are now actively looking for alternatives that won’t cost us the earth, literally.You’ll find more info and links below on this page. Until next week, be that difference. 

“Our goal is not to amass information or to satisfy curiosity, but rather to become painfully aware, to dare to turn what is happening in the world into our own personal suffering and thus discover what each of us can do about it.”~ Laudato Si’ 19, quoted by Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale Vicar Peter Martin in The Sustainable Hour

→ Subscribe to The Sustainable Hour podcast via iTunes or

THE REGENERATIVE HOUR: Can we turn the 2020s into ‘The Regenerative Decade’? In this series of interviews about what that would imply, we talk ecology, deep adaptation, grief, compassion and passion, connecting with nature, resilience, revitalisation, restoration, revolution… – the bigger picture, in other words. The 24th episode features excerpts from a zoom-presentation by climate emergency candidate Bryony Edwards from CACE and professor Will Steffen from Australia National University and the Climate Council, along with excerpts from Greta Thunberg‘s ‘Summer Talk 2020’ and an interview with Club of Rome president Anders Wijkman. Music: two 1GiantLeap clips and snippets from Tones & I‘s ‘The Kids Are Coming’.

#CommunityMobilisation #CouncilElections

Following the decisions made by a Citizens’ Assembly which was appointed by the French government, the nation is now going to have a referendum on climate change. The recent local elections in France saw a “green wave” sweep across the country’s city halls, and the day after the election, President Macron promised referendums for new climate measures. In one day, the climate debate in France changed completely.

The Victorian council elections are set for 24 October 2020 and will be postal. Could something similar happen in Australia? Or to phrase it more proactively: How will we make this happen in Australia just as well?According to Council and Community Action in the Climate Emergency, CACE, the number of candidates for the local government election continues to grow with two new candidates putting their hands up to run in Moreland, and three candidates committing to run in Darebin. In Geelong, we know of a couple of potential candidates, though none of them have committed fully to the idea yet.CACE is hosting zoominars for people who are interested in running.

→ Look for details on the next online event www.caceonline.org

→ Check CACE’s recent blogpost on running as a climate emergency candidate – and their candidate resources page with a council focus:

→ Resources for Climate Emergency candidates

→ CACE’s Facebook page

→ RFI – 29 June 2020:Green wave as environmentalists win key cities in French local elections“A green wa...

THE REGENERATIVE HOUR: Can we turn the 2020s into ‘The Regenerative Decade’? In this series of interviews about what that would imply, we talk ecology, deep adaptation, grief, compassion and passion, connecting with nature, resilience, revitalisation, restoration, revolution… – the bigger picture, in other words.

“A dance between hope and grief”

In the 23rd Regenerative Hour, Mik meets the 23-year-old artist, musician and environmental consultant Quinn Earth Child at his home in the suburb Norlane in northern Geelong.

On his latest EP, ‘Cinnamon Dream Boat’, Quinn explores five “solistalgic indie folk-landscapes” – songs which he says arose from a childhood contemplating the threats of civilisation to their environment. Accompanied by Quinn’s illustrations these tracks are, as described on the EP cover, “a dance between hope and grief”.

Quinn explains how his surname Earth Child came about, how has become inspired to work as a permaculture teacher, about the concept of ‘permablitz’, and about the work his is doing together with groups such as The Farm Next Door and Transition Norlane.

→ Quinn Earth Child’s Facebook page and Instagram page

→ Listen to Quinn’s music on his Bandcamp page

“Start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can… Pick up a shovel – and let’s start working towards the future we want to see in everything we do.”

View this post on Instagram Thank you so much to the #Transition Norlane #Community for the 1st Northern Backyard #WorkingBee (which happened pre-covid), here at EarthChild #Cottage! Seriously thank you from the bottom of our hearts! This is an example of #social #permaculture, feeding a permaculture demonstration site so that it can feed the people in turn. This last back half of the #garden has been an innaccessable sea of cooch grass between old fruit trees for most of my life. This last area of the cottage to be implemented has come at a perfect time; As we are beginning to see the fragile lines of our globalised post-industrial food systems shocked in the face of this pandemic. This scenario shines the light on the deadly necessary #resilliance of #bio-regional, small-scale,