Climate justice in the midst of climate turbulence

Last year, the world overshot 1.5-degrees of warming, and with less than five years to meet key climate, housing, and equity targets, Australia faces a critical challenge: how to accelerate transformation while ensuring justice and equity. This panel will explore the intersecting challenges of the energy transition, worsening climate impacts, and everyday adaptation to climate-change.

Experts will discuss how approaches like deliberative democracy, innovative urban design and First Nations leadership are essential to tackling these compounding issues. But trust-building and inclusive decision-making take time, so how do we balance urgency with the need to create just and lasting solutions?

Join us for this one-hour panel discussion followed by a half an hour of networking.

This event is part of SEI’s Climate Justice Series. This panel series brings together leading thinkers and practitioners to explore the urgent intersections of climate action, equity, and systemic change.

David Schlosberg (Chair), environmental justice and climate adaptation expert

David Schlosberg is Professor of Environmental Politics, Director of the Sydney Environment Institute and Co-Theme Lead of the Environmental Justices and Climate Disaster and Adaptation research themes. His work focuses on environmental, ecological, and climate justice; environment and everyday life; and climate adaptation planning and policy. David has worked extensively with local and state governments on just adaptation and resilience planning, the social impacts of climate change, and community-based food systems and policy.

Emma Bacon, heat adaptation advocate

Emma Bacon is the Executive Director and Founder of Sweltering Cities, which works with people affected by extreme heat to achieve more liveable, sustainable and equitable cities. It is Australia’s only national advocacy organisation working specifically on issues related to extreme heat. Emma is committed to building a broad movement for climate action. She has worked across the union, global justice and environment movements for over 10 years, running successful political campaigns and winning significant outcomes for progressive change at local to international levels.

Steve Hartley, NSW Department of Planning, Housing & Infrastructure

Steve Hartley is the Executive Director of the Resilience and Sustainability Division at the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure. Steve is leading work aimed at embedding sustainability and resilience into planning process, with the goal of improving the people’s lives and the sustainability of the places we live, work and love. This work includes embedding green infrastructure, water sensitive urban design and managing natural and human induced risks into strategic decision making, upfront assessment and design, triple bottom line decision making and program delivery. Steve is an ecological economist by training, and in his time with government has worked in policy, operational and regulatory roles across environmental and natural resource management including water, waste, native forestry, biodiversity and strategic planning.

Karra Kinchela, First Nations rights & climate activist

Karra Kinchela is a Gomeroi Yinarr (woman) from Narrabri, First Nations rights and climate activist. She is the Narrabri Community Coordinator at Lock the Gate Alliance, a community action group that protects our land, water and communities from risky coal mining, coal seam gas and fracking. Karra played a central role in the Gomeroi People v Santos case which was a case about the Gomeroi people's opposition to a major gas project on their traditional lands due to concerns about cultural heritage, environmental impacts, and native title rights.

Amanda Tattersall, social change leader

Amanda Tattersall is an Associate Professor of Practice in urban geography at the University of Sydney and brings decades of experience in change making and community-led research to some of the toughest problems we face. Amanda is the founder of some of Australia’s most interesting social change organisations. She brought Alinsky-style community organising to Australia, founding the Sydney Alliance in 2007 and serving as its Executive Director until 2016. In 2005 she co-founded the digital campaign organisation GetUp.org.au. In 2017 Amanda launched the ChangeMakers podcast to share stories about people changing the world. Amanda is part of a new research project that aims to develop strategies for a just and coherent approach to constructing new electricity transmission infrastructure in Australia.