Introducing the extraction series: discussing the future of Australia鈥檚 energy sector
罢丑别听聽does not tell us anything that climate experts have not been screaming for years: we are at a code red for humanity. And yet, the Australian energy sector proves an enduring bastion of fossil fuel dominance at home and through exports abroad. With the glaring disjunction between what is necessary and what appears feasible in the way of climate action, how to transform our societies away from reliance on extractive industry and towards genuine sustainability is a question only heightening in relevance.
As part of the聽Unsettling Resources聽research project听笔谤辞蹿别蝉蝉辞谤蝉听聽(International Relations),聽聽(Organisational Studies) and聽Tess Lea聽(Gender and Cultural Studies), along with SEI Deputy Director聽Michelle St Anne, have curated the聽Extraction Series, a selection of panels designed to probe the use, impact and future of gas, coal and lead extraction in Australia at a critical point in our changing climate.
Looking past admonitions and vague moralisms, across the month of October and in early November the聽Extraction Series聽will turn to concrete examinations of the possibilities and problems of a move away from extraction, and toward emissions reduction.
The first of these panels, 鈥�Protecting Country, or Extraction?鈥� brings together activists, artists, Traditional Owners and researchers to examine the fast and slow violence caused by the most toxic mine in Australia, Glencore鈥檚 McArthur River Mine. This panel will show how laws apparently intended to protect the environment, in fact facilitate its destruction, and the toxic legacy it leaves behind.
In the second panel, 鈥楩rom Denial to Delay: Moving Beyond Australia鈥檚 Fossil Fuel Addiction鈥� leading climate and energy experts will explain where global climate action is heading and why Australia is so out of step. The panel will explore how renewable energy could lead Australia towards a sustainable emissions pathway, breaking the fossil fuel hegemony that controls national climate policy.
The third panel, 鈥�The Toxic Greed of Australia鈥檚 Gas-Led Recovery鈥�, will聽highlight the risks and burdens of a Gas-Led Recovery in regional NSW.聽Panellists will take a community-centred approach to the debate, examining the聽policy and social impacts of this decision and of the current Australian trajectory more broadly.
In the fourth and final event, 鈥�How Can Finance Address Climate Change?鈥�, the panel will examine how the finance sector is shifting to incorporate climate modelling into its risk assessments for investments, how finance can create new 鈥榞reen鈥� markets and products, be used for investing in 鈥榞reen infrastructure鈥�, and how climate finance is being used for addressing international climate injustice for those most affected by climate change such as the Pacific.
Header image: Christopher Wright.