Article: Lauren Langston

In one of the latest episodes of Pacific Conversations, 2ser’s Ed Blakely and Tina Quinn spoke to the honourable former Premier of New South Wales (1995-2005) and Foreign Minister of Australia (2012-2013) Bob Carr. Bob Carr is now an industry Professor of Business and Climate Change at the University of Technology Sydney.

In July of 2021 the United Nations published ‘The Sustainable Development Report 2021’, declaring that out of nearly 200 countries Australia scored last for action undertaken to decrease global greenhouse gas emissions. This came shortly after Scott Morrison announced earlier in the year that coal mining will continue to stay for decades to come.

Reflecting on these major events, Carr stated that “we could have been steadily pricing carbon since 2009 and that would’ve gradually influenced business decision making; being the investment decisions investors of boardrooms commit themselves to and sending a message that renewables are the future. We wouldn’t suffer these jolts to the system we suffer now with the expeditated closing of coal fired power”.

With the rest of the world advancing ahead of Australia with dramatic pacing “we are now in a category with countries such as Saudi Arabia and Brazil, we aren’t there with the Europeans, the Canadians, Japan and China saying firmly net zero emissions by 2050. Diplomatically we are isolated, and the Prime Minister feels under pressure as a person without a strong view on climate change”.

Following on from these statements, we can’t extricate ourselves from a worldwide movement that considers a body of scientific work about the human impact on the planet’s environment.

Further to this, millennials, a generation of 93 million people, are contributing to sustainability through purchasing and employment depending on a company’s environmental and social benefits.

You may be wondering what you can do to help and let it be known that healing the planet can begin in your house. Who better to speak up and hold those accountable in power than us.

It’s time to go green.

For more, listen to the full conversation with the Honorable Bob Carr here.