I was thrilled to have the chance to speak about my new book with Dr Miranda Melcher for the New Books Network earlier this year. The interview features in the New Books in Environmental Studies series.
What is "Net Zero" anyway?
Last month, the leaders of the G7 declared their commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest. Closer to home, the Albanese government recently introduced legislation to establish a Net Zero Economy Authority, promising it will catalyse investment in clean energy technologies in the push to reach net zero. Pledges to achieve net zero emissions over the coming decades have proliferated since the United Nation’s 2021 Glasgow climate summit, as governments declare their commitments to meeting the Paris Agreement goal of holding global warming under 1.5°C. But what exactly is “net zero”, and where did this concept come from?
In May 2024 I wrote a short explainer for The Conversation, and spoke with Dr Meredith Lake on ABC Alice Springs in the lead up to the 2024 Northern Territory election.
Discussing climate history
View of the Swan River, taken at the commencement of fresh water, in 1827, painted by Frederick Garling during the exploration by James Stirling, Art Gallery of Western Australia.
In early 2023 I joined Philip Gooding to chat about my article in Environment and History, ‘Health, hearth and empire: climate, race and reproduction in British India and Western Australia’. We covered the nuances of 19th-century British imperial policy in the Indian Ocean World, the shortfalls of contemporary climatic theories of race and health, and the value of gender analysis in climate history as a whole. The conversation was recorded for the Indian Ocean World podcast, and the transcript was published in the Journal of Indian Ocean World Studies.