CLIMATE ACTION SHOW
JUNE 19TH 2023
Produced by Vivien Langford
MOTHER EARTH? ....PALLIATIVE CARE
A comment made by a nurse in the human chain around the NAB Sydney HQ hit like a depth charge.
Her placard showed Mother Earth with a thermometer in her mouth. I said "She looks like she's in intensive care".
"No, said the nurse, she's palliative".
It chilled me because palliative suggests no more heroic measures, just smooth the dying pillow. This week watching videos of Blockade Australia people hanging in harnesses above the Port in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, I thought something is indeed dying. Our economic system of infinite growth is leading to ecological collapse. We need to let it go.
One of the young people livestreaming his comments said
" People recognise the system is not broken. It is designed this way and it is tearing away our future"
They were not disrupting the export of coal and gas, which has a long history. They were interrupting the flow of goods that fuels consumerism.
Another dangling person said
" We're digging ourselves a hole and the port is a big part of the shovel. We need to put that shovel down. We are here for life, for earth and all her peoples".
There are so many ways to take Climate Action. Today's show highlights people taking on the financiers of climate failure. It also introduces us to international energy experts in the fine Fear and Wonder podcast sponsored by The Climate Council Cooperation with the US could drive Australia’s clean energy shift – but we must act fast | Climate Council
Guests:
Move Beyond Coal group taking action as a human chain around the NAB HQ in Sydney
Can you take some action at a NAB branch near you ? Deliver the 'Banking Climate Failure Report' - Move Beyond Coal
Market Forces : Their report reveals just how loopholes are used for NAB to go on financing Whitehaven Coal and other companies that are fuelling the climate crisis. Banking Climate Failure 2023 - Market Forces
"In the last two years, the big four banks loaned a combined $13.1 billion to the fossil fuel industry. The banks also arranged $2.2 billion through the bond market for fossil fuel companies during this period".
Fear and Wonder Episode 6 Solutions
“The problem is getting worse,” explains Greg Nemet, a Canadian renewable policy expert and IPCC author. “But we’ve got solutions now that are so much more affordable than they were.”
After studying advances in solar technology, which has seen rapid expansion and price reductions, he’s optimistic about our capacity to avert the worst possible climate outcomes.
In this week’s episode of our climate podcast Fear and Wonder, we speak to Greg about the pace of change in the solar industry and whether it can be replicated for other technologies.
We also hear from fellow IPCC author and Algerian energy policy expert Yamina Saheb, about the emission reductions that are possible by adopting age-old sustainability concepts. She explains the idea of “sufficiency”, which aims to reduce the overall demand for energy, materials, land and water, while still delivering human wellbeing for all.
Climate Action Collective
