In this fascinating interview, first aired in June 2020, renowned climate scientist Will Steffen discusses Earth System science, and his research on so-called “tipping cascades,” when one tipping point kicks off a series of others, posing a growing threat of abrupt and irreversible climate changes. Will draws parallels between -19 and climate change, in that it’s important to understand science and not just what intervention needs to take place but to plan for the amount of time it takes for it to take effect. A great interview with a pioneering climate researcher who died on January 29th, 2023.
Will Steffen had a long history in international global change research, serving from 1998 to 2004 as Executive Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), based in Stockholm, Sweden, and before that as Executive Officer of IGBP’s Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems project. He was the Inaugural Director of the ANU Climate Change Institute, from 2008-2012. Prior to that, he was Director of the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society. From 2004 to 2011, Will served as science adviser to the Australian Government Department of Climate Change; from 2011 to 2013 was a Climate Commissioner on the Australian Government’s Climate Commission; Chair of the Antarctic Science Advisory Committee, Co-Director of the Canberra Urban and Regional Futures (CURF) initiative and Member of the ACT Climate Change Council. Steffen’s interests spanned a broad range within the fields of sustainability and Earth System science, with an emphasis on the science of climate change, approaches to climate change adaptation in land systems, incorporation of human processes in Earth System modelling and analysis; and the history and future of the relationship between humans and the rest of nature.
Episode 191: Sir Ronald Cohen, "the father of social investment," discusses how to reshape capitalism to drive real change.
Episode 190: Dr. Xander Dunlap discusses how current environmental policies and "green" technologies are perpetuating ecological destruction.
Episode 189: Interview with Irish rewilding pioneer Eoghan Daltun in the Beara peninsula of Co. Cork, Ireland.
Episode 188: Interview with Bhutanese lama Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche...offering a distinctive Buddhist outlook on current environmental crises.
Episode 187: Interview with indigenous Australian academic and human and earth rights activist, Dr. Anne Poelina.
Episode 186: Interview with Steve Trent, founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation
Episode 185: Interview with leading French anthropologist Professor Philippe Descola on man's relationship with nature.
Episode 184: Interview with Dr. Matthew J. Bell, EY Global Climate Change and Sustainability Services Leader
Episode 183 Interview with Professor Katharina Pistor on How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality. First aired on December 13th, 2021.
Episode 182: Journalist Vincent Bevins discusses his new book If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution
Episode 181: Environmental degradation, capitalism, and imperialism with Jason W Moore
Episode 180 Net Zero: Beyond the hype. Professor Angel Hsu on the reality of Net Zero Pledges
Episode 179: Jeremy Lent talks about finding our place in the universe by integrating science and traditional wisdom
Episode 178: Discussion with Paula DiPerna of the pros and cons of a market based approach to our environmental problems.
Episode 177 Author Ned Beauman talks about his satirical extinction novel, Venemous Lumpsucker. First aired in September 2022.
Episode 176: Interview with Mike Davis, CEO of pioneering campaigning NGO, on their work unmasking global corruption, safeguarding the environment, and advocating for human rights
Episode 175: Dr. Samantha Montano: Understanding Emergency Management in the Climate Change Era
Episode 174: Interview with Professor Daniel Aldrich on resilience and the importance of social capital in post-disaster recovery, first aired October 2021
Episode 173: Interview with Scottish author Martin MacInnes on contemporary literature and the climate crisis
Episode 172: Professor Neta Crawford discusses the emissions of the Pentagon -- the world’s largest single greenhouse gas emitter.
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