WA CLIMATE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT 2020
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY TEDxPerth acknowledges the Wadjuk people of the Noongar Nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which the city of Perth and metropolitan region is located. We recognise their continuing connection to the land, waters and community of this area and pay our respects to their elders past, present and emerging. It is an honour for us to be meeting here today.
WHY WE ARE HERE TODAY Meri Fatin Guest Curator Today’s event is the result of the pure serendipity that had me meeting Christiana Figueres, the chief architect of the Paris Climate Agreement, at Perth Airport on March 14 this year for a whirlwind visit. Figueres’ vast experience, stubbornly optimistic mindset and inclusive communication style holds some key lessons. We have just a few years left to avoid irreversible environmental damage, and we have everything we need to get the job done. But we need to work hard. Her visit made me worry about leadership on climate action in Western Australia. There’s far less apathy and denial than we are led to believe, and while I’ve discovered courage, innovation and passion, there is no visible network of leaders.
What we need is a powerful show of our intent to act decisively and quickly. TED’s twelve-month global Countdown initiative, a collaboration with Christiana Figueres’ Global Optimism, offers us the impetus for that show of intent and I thank you for your willingness to be first in the room. My most sincere thanks to our speakers, whose gift is to liberate your mindset on climate action, and to TEDxPerth Director of Curation Rob Lines whose patient guidance and infallible good humour has landed us here safely. If you take one thing from today, let it be “permission”. Permission to step up now to the most critical challenge of your career, knowing you are not alone and knowing it’s most certainly YOUR job.
Rob Lines Director of Curation Rob has been involved in TEDxPerth since 2012. Now running UWA’s public venues, Rob has worked for many years in theatre and cinema management in the UK and in Australia.
He has been a Producer for C&T, a digital theatre company blending technology and applied drama practice in education and has Honours in Computer Science and Physics.
TEDXPERTH Our events are called TEDxPerth, TEDxPerth Countdown and TEDxYouth@Perth, where x is an independently organised TED event. We operate under license from TED and seek to spread the best ideas in our community to the widest possible audience. We are non-profit and driven by a team of professionals,
all volunteers, deeply committed to ensuring that our city and state participate in and benefit from the internationally acclaimed ideas-platform created by TED. The talks are professionally filmed and presented online, for free. Our talks have been watched over 10 million times.
WELCOME It’s an extraordinary privilege to be part of the international TEDx Community. I never cease to be in awe of the people who give freely of their ideas, energy and time to create TEDx events in communities across the globe. When TED told us they were launching Countdown, a global initiative to champion and accelerate solutions to the climate crisis, I knew that we too must #JoinTheCountdown, turning ideas into action in Perth and Western Australia. The goal? To build a better future by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 in the race to a zero-carbon world – a world that is safer, cleaner and fairer for everyone. Every organisation, company, city and nation, and citizens everywhere, are invited to collaborate with Countdown and take action on climate. It is a movement open to everyone – and everyone has a vital role to play.
Meri Fatin, our Guest Curator, has brought both resolve and passion to TEDxPerth Countdown and, supported by Rob Lines, Director of Curation, has assembled today’s brilliant speakers. The worldwide TEDx movement is an act of almost unbelievable generosity. Our speakers today are giving their time and ideas freely and contributing to a library of thousands of ideas presented online, for free, for everyone. In Perth alone, our talks have been watched over 10 million times. Today would be impossible without our partners. Their commitment has breathed life into TEDxPerth Countdown and, on behalf of us all, I thank them. We welcome our friends from Accenture, who are not only supporting this event, but join Curtin University as enthusiastic partners for TEDxYouth@Perth, coming up in March, and our Flagship Conference in Perth Concert Hall next October. Containers for Change, Cundall, PAV, the Committee for Perth,
Cullen Wines and others are making notable contributions to make today the best it can be. The TEDxPerth team is amazing and it’s an honour to lead them. Skilled people giving their time and expertise to help spread ideas worth spreading. Please make time to thank them. Finally, thank you for being part of TEDxPerth Countdown. The time is now. Let’s get to work.
Gavin Buckley Chief Executive Officer
PLANTING FOR THE FUTURE The Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor reforestation project sequesters carbon
CARBON SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS carbonneutral.com.au
and preserves global biodiversity for future generations. Work with us to restore Australia’s ecosystems and mitigate the climate crisis.
OUR CARBON NEUTRAL STORY We are committed to minimising the environmental impact of all our events. TEDxPerth Countdown is the first TEDx event in Australia to be certified carbon neutral by Climate Active. We hope that all event organisers in Australia will be inspired to take our lead. Climate Active, the Australian Government’s carbon neutral certification, is the most rigorous and credible carbon neutral certification available. Driven by its members (including TEDxPerth) and activated by consumers, Climate Active is a unique program that enables businesses, government and the community to reduce carbon emissions. Today, we have reduced our carbon emissions as much as possible
and then invested in WA’s Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor, an amazing project, that removes emissions from the atmosphere. Overall, the emissions from TEDxPerth Countdown equal zero or are ‘neutral’. This includes the food, this program and the journey you have made to attend.
TEDxPerth is immensely grateful to Madlen Jannaschk and Oliver Grimaldi at Cundall who have helped us achieve carbon neutral certification.
The Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor This amazing WA project, run by Perth-based experts Carbon Neutral, not only has significant climate benefits but is also delivering social and environmental outcomes by conserving habitat, protecting biodiversity, increasing employment opportunities, and reinvigorating social and cultural traditions.
PARTNER WITH US!
We welcome the brightest and best brands and organisations to partner with us, share our vision and engage with our community.
partnerships@tedxperth.org
LET’S TALK How will you be part of a carbon neutral future? With the support of Accenture, TEDxPerth is making a short film today and we want you to be part of it. I Chair TEDxPerth’s Youth Panel, which ensures that young people’s voices, hopes and ideas are at the heart of everything TEDxPerth does. Climate change is the pre-eminent issue for young people, which is why I want to hear from you about your motivations and plans towards net zero carbon. I’ll be coming around to have some conversations throughout the afternoon. I look forward to meeting you!
Kai Lovel Chair, TEDxPerth Youth Panel
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WELCOME TO COUNTRY CAROL INNES Carol is a mother and grandmother and a very strong advocate for raising the profile of Noongar people in Western Australia. Carol has family connections in the Whadjuk, Ballardong, Wilmen and Wardandi peoples. She has a strong commitment to work with our community across all sectors, is Co-Chair of Reconciliation WA as well as a Board member of the Art Gallery of Western Australia.
Carol is Manager for Aboriginal Cultural Heritage & Arts at DevelopmentWA, concentrating on Aboriginal engagement in the organisation’s urban and regional development projects. Between 2006 and 2015 she was employed at the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, managing projects which maintained Noongar involvement in many areas through native title. Before this, she worked for 11 years in the arts sector in the area of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts. Carol has worked in senior roles in government at both State and Federal levels.
CHRISTIANA FIGUERES Christiana is an internationallyrecognised leader on global climate change. She was Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 2010-2016. Assuming responsibility for the international climate change negotiations after the failed Copenhagen conference of 2009, she was determined to lead the process to a universally agreed regulatory framework. Building toward that goal, she directed the successful Conferences of the Parties in Cancun 2010, Durban 2011, Doha 2012, Warsaw 2013, and Lima 2014, and culminated her efforts in the historic Paris Agreement of 2015.
Throughout her tenure Christiana brought together national and subnational governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and communities of faith, think tanks and technology providers, NGOs and parliamentarians, to jointly deliver the unprecedented climate change agreement. For this achievement she has been credited with forging a new brand of collaborative diplomacy.
She is a non-executive Board member of ACCIONA.
Since then she has continued to accelerate the global response to climate change. Today she is the co-founder of Global Optimism, co-host of the podcast Outrage & Optimism and is the coauthor of the recently published book, The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis.
In the natural world, a newly discovered tropical moth (Struthoscelis christianafigueresae), a wasp (Pseudapanteles christianafigueresae) and an orchid (Vanilla karen-christianae) have been named after her. She is the mother of two daughters and speaks Spanish, English and German.
Her life of public service began as Minister Counselor at the Embassy of Costa Rica in Bonn in 1982. Moving to the USA, she was Director of Renewable Energy in the Americas (REIA) and in 1995 founded the non-profit Center for Sustainable Development of the Americas (CSDA) which she directed for eight years.
JEFF HANSEN Jeff has co-led and led many conservation campaigns to victory, including ending the Western Australia shark cull, stopping the world’s largest gas hub from going through the middle of the world’s biggest humpback whale nursery off the Kimberley coast and stopping oil-giants BP, Equinor and Chevron from drilling for oil in the rich, fragile and biodiverse waters of the Great Australian Bight.
He believes that no task or foe is too big or too hard when a group of passionate and dedicated people come together to work towards a common goal. Jeff is a qualified Electronic and Computer Engineer (hons) and is the great nephew of Teddy Sheean VC, a decorated World War II hero who served upon the HMAS Armidale in 1942. Jeff likes diving, surfing, skiing, painting and keeping fit, having completed two Ironman Triathlons (one with a broken arm) and a number of marathons.
He and his wife Marina are proud parents of their daughter Abby, 10 and son Beau, 7. He believes that nature is the greatest and grandest show on earth and that no government decision should ever be made that has a negative impact on future generations. Jeff sits on the Board of Sea Shepherd Global, Sea Shepherd Australia and Sea Shepherd New Zealand.
BRENDAN HAMMOND Brendan is driven by a conviction that enterprises succeed best when they properly serve the interests of all stakeholders – specifically by ensuring that short-term interests are appropriately balanced with long-term common good. Brendan is the Head of Australia for Intercontinental Energy, the largest member of the consortium developing the Asian Renewable Energy Hub in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Brendan is also the Project Director for AREH. Brendan spent 24 years with Rio Tinto and, as Managing Director at Argyle Diamonds, he established Argyle as the benchmark of sustainable practise in the resource/utility and infrastructure sectors across Australia.
This was demonstrated in 2005 by the Argyle Participation Agreement between Argyle and its Aboriginal Traditional Owners which remains a best-practise example of such relationships in the industry globally. In 2011 Brendan was awarded the West Australian Citizen of the Year Award in the category of Governor’s Award for Regional Development. In 2014 Brendan completed eight years as the inaugural Chairman of the Board of Horizon Power. He has been the Chairman of the Western Australian Regional Development Trust and the Chairman of the Pilbara Development Commission since 2017. Brendan has focused both organisations on the urgent need to transform the economies of Western Australia and Australia
away from their growing dependence on the extraction of non-renewable resources. In this regard he currently leads a State Government-wide process to achieve this.
THERE’S CASH IN YOUR CONTAINERS Pay it forward and donate the cash in your containers to TEDxPerth. Use their scheme ID C10349578 and help a young thought leader attend TEDxYouth@Perth
ELIGIBLE CONTAINERS
Most glass, plastic, aluminium, steel and paper-based cartons between 150mL and 3L.
Find your local refund point at containersforchange.com.au
CHANTAL CARUSO With 15 years’ experience across government, academic, startup and non-profit sectors, Chantal brings a wealth of experience to her current role as a director of policy and research at the Clean State initiative. Chantal is the lead author of the Clean State Jobs Plan, 26 big ideas for 200,000 jobs, and the co-author of two reports on the impact of WA’s LNG industry on climate change.
Chantal spent almost eight years between Perth and Canberra and was responsible for eight federal portfolios including Housing, Cities, and Transport. Over this time she co-authored three successive 100% renewable energy reports for WA, a national housing affordability plan, and the groundbreaking Transforming Perth and #DesignPerth reports.
in Sustainable Urban and Regional Planning at Murdoch University and an urban design immersive at Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Previously, in her role as Senior Advisor to former Greens Senator and Deputy Leader Scott Ludlam,
Chantal is a massive urban design nerd and is a qualified planner, having completed a Masters of Arts
She’s a Taurus and likes dogs, deliberative democracy, and brutalist architecture a lot.
She is a published researcher in the area of green buildings and in her spare time she’s the secretary of the Beaufort Street Network and volunteers for the West Australian Council of Lived Experience.
IDEAS WORTH SPREADING. CHANGE WORTH MAKING.
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER Look around you. Look at the people who have chosen to be here. Like you, they understand the immensity of the task ahead. Like you, they’re not sure humanity can pull it off. But one thing that connects you to every person here today is the conviction that we have to try. We are united in hope – hope with action. Today’s participants are leaders drawn from every endeavour: business, research, politics, government, education, energy, agriculture, resources, construction, transport and others. That’s no accident.
TEDxPerth has consciously collided worlds to help forge new understanding, new connections and new partnerships. So talk to people you don’t know. Because their goal is your goal. Ask how you can help. Someone here can help you. Together, we can do this.
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MIRANDA TAYLOR Miranda has been Chief Executive of National Energy Resources Australia since its inception in 2016. Her leadership of NERA is bringing together the country’s best minds from technology, research and enterprise to achieve NERA’s vision of Australia as a global energy powerhouse, a sought-after destination of investment and leading source of knowledge and solutions. NERA is working with industry, universities and researchers, entrepreneurs, innovative SMEs, skills initiatives and governments to support the cultural change and new thinking required to overcome barriers to collaboration and innovation,
and to ensure Australia’s energy resources sector is staying ahead of the global automation technology transformation. Miranda has extensive experience across the energy resources industries, working to improve productivity, optimise operational performance, lead HSE and risk management and undertake stakeholder engagement. She has worked collaboratively with industry, regulators and state and federal governments and participated in a number of governmental taskforces, including supporting Australia’s leadership action to address the BP Gulf of Mexico disaster and the implications for Australia.
She has an honours degree from the London School of Economics in international economics, politics and history. Working on a kibbutz in the Golan Heights on the border of Israel and Syria inspired her honours thesis in International Peacekeeping. She has a postgraduate degree in Australian labour relations.
ANNE POELINA Dr Anne Poelina, Nyikina Warrwa Traditional Custodian Managing Director of Madjulla Inc., Chair of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council. Anne is an active Indigenous community leader, respected human and earth rights advocate and filmmaker. Current work explores Climate, Water and Multi-species Justice for Indigenous people of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River.
A Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy (Health Science) Scholar, Anne is submitting a second doctoral thesis entitled Martuwarra First Law Multispecies Justice for Land, Living Waters, and Indigenous Peoples Wellbeing. Anne is a Peter Cullen Fellow (2011), Laureate Women’s World Summit Foundation (Geneva, 2017), Adjunct Professor and Senior Research Fellow
of the University of Notre Dame (Nulungu Research Institute) and Visiting Research Fellow at the Australian National University, Water Justice Hub.
DAVID CARTER David graduated from Melbourne University in 1978 with a science degree in marine zoology and went to sea as a deckhand on a prawn trawler out of Darwin immediately after that. David has worked in the same industry, and for the same company, for his whole career and has been exposed to most of what the fishing industry has to offer; from science and policy through to operations, management, marketing and sales. He has been CEO of Austral Fisheries since 2003, and he has a deep-seated belief in sustainability, fairness and equity, and ‘doing the right thing’ over short term expediency.
David has a strong commitment to science-based fisheries management, believing deeply in recognition of sustainable fisheries performance through third party certification schemes such as the Marine Stewardship Council. David is regarded locally and internationally as responsible and progressive and in 2012 was admitted to the Australian fishing industry’s ‘hall of fame’. In 2020 he was recognised for being in the top 100 world’s most powerful seafood influencers by Intrafish magazine. Under his leadership of Austral, the company has also been an effective voice in reducing the prevalence of illegal fishing globally.
In 2016 David led Austral to becoming the first fishing company in the world to achieve carbon neutral status. Austral promote this fact through supply chains that handle the company’s premiumbranded seafood products. Austral have accumulated a number of awards and recognition over the years, most recently the Banksia award for sustainability in the small to medium business category. David is married and has one daughter, and he has an active interest in cycling – with highlights including climbing the famous Col du Tourmalet in France, and Passo del Stelvio in Italy. David is also a keen amateur photographer and drone pilot.
The Committee for Perth is WA’s leading independent think-tank. We are a future-focused and apolitical organisation that seeks to positively influence debate and policy through our knowledge bank of more than 140 pieces of research. Through our evidence-based and solutions-focused approach, we have a track record of driving structural and cultural change to enrich Greater Perth’s reputation as a place to live, work, invest, study and visit. Read our research on our website www.committeeforperth.com.au
FIONA STANLEY AC Trained in maternal and child health, epidemiology and public health, Professor Fiona Stanley has spent her career researching the causes of major childhood illnesses such as birth defects. Her research includes the gathering and analysis of population data for epidemiological and public health research; the causes and prevention of birth defects and major neurological disorders, particularly the cerebral palsies; patterns of maternal and child health in Aboriginal and Caucasian populations; various ways of determining the developmental origins of health and disease; collaborations to link research, policy and practice; and strategies to enhance health and well-being in populations. Her major contribution has been to establish the Telethon Kids Institute, a unique multidisciplinary independent research institute focusing on the causes and prevention of major problems affecting children and youth and to establish the Australian Research Alliance for Children and
Youth, a national organisation of researchers, policy makers and practitioners. She has over 300 publications, books and book chapters. She is a board member of the Gurrumul Yunupingu Foundation, a Governor of The Ian Potter Foundation and a former member of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, and a former board member of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She has also served on major international, national and local committees. For her research on behalf of Australia’s children and Aboriginal social justice, she was named Australian of the Year in 2003 and in 2006 she was made a UNICEF Australia Ambassador for Early Childhood Development. More recently Fiona has become a spokesperson for the Climate Council, Doctors for the Environment Australia (member of their Scientific Advisory Committee) and 350.org, on the health effects of climate change.
As a former Director of ANDI (Australian National Development Index), she worked alongside a group of researchers led from the University of Melbourne where they undertake trans-disciplinary research that explores factors that both contribute to and detract from the wellbeing of individuals, communities, and society at large from a variety of perspectives. This project is attempting to go beyond GDP as the singular measure of the progress of societies and seeks measures of sustainable and equitable wellbeing.
PRINCIPAL PARTNER Accenture Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries, we offer Strategy and Consulting, Interactive, Technology and Operations services—all powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centres. Our 506,000 people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for our clients, people, shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com.
MAJOR PARTNER Containers for Change Containers for Change is the new way we recycle our drink containers. By providing a 10 cent refund, Containers for Change aims to divert the number of drink containers being sent to landfill or becoming litter, and ensures they are properly recycled. In the first month, over 27.8 million containers were returned from across WA, positively impacting the environment and the communities we live in.
PARTNERS
Our achievements have been made possible thanks to the many partners we have worked with over the last ten years. We would like to thank every one who has been part of this journey so far.
10pm 12am 2am 4am 6am 8am
TEDxPerth Countdown Team
Marketing
Board
TEDxPerth is driven by a team of professionals. We are volunteers united by the transformative power of ideas. By giving a platform for the Ideas Worth Spreading of Perth’s brightest thinkers and doers, we are proud to present a beacon for all that is remarkable, challenging and thought-provoking in Perth.
Tanya Dharmapala Marketing Director
Tracy Deveugle-Frink Chair
Cameron Munro Website Development Manager
Keith Burke Treasurer
Jiaranai Keatnuxsuo IT & Website Coordinator
Adil Bux
Andrew Kilburn Photographer
Simon Dawkins
Richard Watson Videographer
Annabel Keogh Joel Miller
Production Russell Tsingano Production Manager Kabir Ramasary Food Curator Olivia Boulud Volunteer Manager
Curators
Jane Ong Senior Volunteer Coordinator
Meri Fatin Guest Curator
Parul Jha Volunteer Coordinator
Rob Lines Director of Curation
Natalia Saeed Volunteer Coordinator Benjamin Fry AV Manager
Chief Executive Officer
Samantha Hayes Registration Manager
Gavin Buckley
Shivani Gurung Registration Coordinator Catherine Milbrandt Registration Coordinator
Licensee
Laura Warren Installations Coordinator
Joel Miller
Capucine Flipo Event Coordinator
Partnerships
Operations
Martin Wisker Partnerships Director
Dirk Kelly IT Manager
Siva Murugappa Senior Partnerships Manager
Lydia Setiadi Bookkeeper
Bethan Winn Senior Partnerships Manager
Eileen Wong Executive Officer
Program & Motion Graphic Design
Chair of Youth Panel
Kelwin Wong
Kai Lovel
This program is printed on 100% recycled paper and is included in our carbon offset. TEDxPerth Inc. PO Box Z5101 St Georges Terrace Perth WA 6831 ABN 74 909 702 485
We’ll get the future we need by changing the present we’re handed
20 March 2021 State Theatre Centre of WA TEDxPerth.org
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