Professor Tim Flannery is one of Australia’s leading experts on climate change. We were fortunate enough to host him at our annual conference on 20 July this year and have posted two videos below.

In this 5 minute Q&A video, Professor Flannery discusses the difficulty of motivating people to fix an inter-generational problem, the need to act and consume locally, and Australia’s role in a global solution. When asked whether there was a difference between developing and developed nations on climate change, Professor Flannery said that there are increasingly both developed and developing countries that are willing to tackle climate change and vice versa.  The transition to a clean energy economy, said Professor Flannery, is “absolutely unstoppable and well underway…and I suspect it will occur faster than anyone thinks.”

This longer piece is the full video of his talk at the conference, entitled “Global Warming and Human Rights”.

Professor Flannery’s bio: Tim Flannery is one of Australia’s leading thinkers and writers. A scientist, explorer and conservationist, he has published more than 130 peer-reviewed papers and many books. He has been described by Sir David Attenborough as one of the great explorers of modern times, and as a scientist who’s discovered more new species than Charles Darwin. His landmark works The Future Eaters and The Weather Makers have changed the way we think about the environmental challenges facing the world today. He spent a year teaching at Harvard, and in 2006 he co-founded and was appointed Chair of the Copenhagen Climate Council. Named Australian of the Year in 2007, he quickly made that role an active one in the global arena, working with governments and business in North America, Asia and Europe to spur action on climate change. Now he is serving as Australia’s first Chief Climate Commissioner. Professor Tim Flannery appears by arrangement with Claxton Speakers International.