Outrage + Optimism: The Climate Podcast1 Touko 2025

Beyond the ‘Climate Wars’?: Australia heads to the polls

Australia heads to the polls this weekend - with climate firmly on the ballot. Is the country ready to lose its reputation as the battleground of the climate wars? And are we about to see a lasting shift in a nation that has for years been torn between its sunlight and its coal?

As a pivotal election looms, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson examine what’s at stake for one of the world’s highest per-capita emitters. After months of polling ahead, the opposition Coalition now faces a late surge from the governing Labor Party, with the Greens, Teals and independents all likely to play a crucial role. The result could reinforce, roll-back or reshape domestic climate policy, and determine whether Australia emerges as a global climate leader at a time when others are stepping away from the stage.

To understand what’s going on, the team calls up friend of the show Dean Bialek, Founder and Managing Director of The Pacific Project. Together, they explore the opportunities for Australia in the energy transition, the narratives and dynamics driving this election, and the country’s potential role as a regional leader as it hopes to host 2026’s COP31 with other Pacific nations.

So, does Australia have a role to play in reigniting regional and global climate momentum? And how will this election shape the climate fight - both within and beyond its borders.

Learn more

🌿 Philip Levin’s opinion piece in the New York Times, ‘Trump Tried to Derail Our Work. We Banded Together and Moved Forward.’

🦅 The Economist’s US cover this week, reported by Yahoo

🔬 Hungry Beast’s ‘I’m A Climate Scientist’ video

⚡ ABC News Australia’s graphic, illustrating the shift in Australia’s energy mix

Instagram @outrageoptimism

LinkedIn @outrageoptimism

Or get in touch with us via this form.

Producer: Ben Weaver-Hincks

Video Producer: Caitlin Hanrahan

Exec Producer: Dino Sofos

Commissioning Editor: Sarah Thomas

This is a Persephonica production for Global Optimism and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(394)

The China Pivot: What will Beijing’s climate leadership look like?

World leaders are flocking to Beijing. In the first weeks of 2026, Canada’s Mark Carney, the UK’s Sir Keir Starmer and South Korea’s Lee Jae-myung have all made high-profile visits - an unmistakable s...

29 Tammi 34min

Beyond COP: Can Brazil Chart a Path Off Fossil Fuels?

How dependent are we - economically, politically and socially - on fossil fuels? And how do we begin to loosen that grip?As the world reels from geopolitical shocks, multilateral institutions under st...

22 Tammi 41min

What does Trump’s UNFCCC exit mean for climate diplomacy?

What happens when the world’s most powerful country walks away from the system it helped to build?This week, we examine the United States’ decision to withdraw not only from the Paris Agreement, but f...

15 Tammi 37min

Venezuela, Fossil Fuels, and the Year Ahead

The year has barely begun, and already the fault lines of global power are on full display.Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson take stock of a moment that feels both shocking and...

8 Tammi 42min

Beginning the Year With Ancestral Wisdom

As billions around the world mark the beginning of a new year, many are pausing to ask the same questions: what do we carry forward, and what do we leave behind, as we cross from the old into the new?...

1 Tammi 40min

Why Beauty Matters in the Climate Crisis

At a moment when the world feels noisier, faster, and more demanding than ever, what role can beauty play in helping us slow down, reconnect, and remember what matters?As the year draws to a close, Ch...

24 Joulu 202545min

Follow The Money: Who’s driving climate disinformation?

At the very moment we need clarity and trust, information integrity is being polluted. Disinformation is profitable and the impact on truth is dangerous. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the disco...

18 Joulu 202543min

Paris, 10 Years On - Has it Changed the World?

Ten years ago, a gavel dropped in a conference hall north of Paris. It was the moment the world agreed on a strategic plan for one of the most consequential transformations in human history. But, a de...

11 Joulu 202549min