Season 2, Ep 9: Humanity's Moment — a time for healing, with Dr Joëlle Gergis
Where were you in the 2020s?
Our next guest wants you to be able to say, ‘I was part of it, leading the change’.
Dr Joëlle Gergis is one of the world’s leading climate scientists and, we reckon after this conversation especially, a national treasure. She’s devoted her career to the cutting edge of climate science: researching, teaching, writing and contributing to the UN’s IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. That’s the global, state-of-the-art review of climate change science, led by an international community of experts who volunteer their time.
So are we too late? How bad is it, really? What would the natural world look like if we did everything right from here? And how do scientists like Joëlle cope with all this? She peels back the curtain in this revealing, human and compassionate chat about our Earth, our humanity and her philosophy for living a meaningful life.
Dr Gergis is an award-winning climate scientist, senior lecturer at the Australian National University and writer of Sunburnt Country: The history and future of climate change in Australia. Her latest book is out now — Humanity’s Moment: a Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope. It’s a great read for science lovers, people lovers, and anyone wanting to be expertly guided through the story of our Earth’s past, present and possible futures. Her message: it’s up to us.
“Ultimately we’re not talking about a scientific issue here,” says the scientist. “This is a moment where we need to think about, ‘what does it mean to be human right now?’ It’s actually a moment of healing.” Join us, for a conversation you won’t forget.
Show notes
Recommendations & things mentioned
Rebecca Solnit, ‘Hope in the Dark’
Lisa Wells, ‘Believers: Making a Life at the End of the World’
reMAKER Claire O’Rourke (season 2, ep 7) and book ‘Together We Can’
Things you can do next
Buy your copy of Humanity’s Moment: A climate scientist’s case for hope.
Get politically active: find a group, back a candidate, join a march, donate, write letters to the editor, engage with your MP.
Get active within your networks and spheres of influence at home, at work, socially, in your community.
Look at the way you power your home, the food you eat, the next car you purchase, etc…
Can’t go solar? Ask your power company if they can offset your energy use at no extra cost to you (see example here).
Search your super fund plus “sustainable” and see what options there are, or switch. (Market Forces offers free, independent guides to banking, super, insurance and other products that ‘use your money as a force for good’.)
Share this episode on social media or with friends. Write a review on Apple or Spotify, spread the word.
Thoughts? Leave a message for the show by calling (02) 7257 2619, or email us at podcast@AustraliareMADE.org.