The SEI Podcast Series

In this instalment of the SEI podcast series, it is discussed how the biodiversity crisis is inextricably linked to the climate crisis, and we can’t save the climate by destroying nature in the process. In fact, we need to repair nature to help solve climate change. The opening panel of the Sydney Environment Institute’s Climate and Biodiversity Crises Series explored the broader planetary crisis...

In this instalment of the SEI Podcast Series, writer Dr James Bradley   joins new scholarship that reckons with humanity’s complex relationship to the natural world. Through the lens and narratives of the ocean, it offers vital new ways of understanding and being in the world, and how we anticipate our climate future. Hear James expand on these ideas alongside  Maria Byrne , Professor of...

At the 2024 Iain McCalman lecture, Dr Sophie Chao considered how mourning has become a necessary disposition of our times: one that enables us to create and commemorate connections by recognising the vulnerability and finitude of non-human others. Dr Chao drew on philosophies, practices, and protocols of “multispecies mourning” enacted by Indigenous Marind People in the Indonesian-occupied region...

How can we balance the need to halt biodiversity loss against human needs for shelter, fuel, and nutrition? Could a more multidisciplinary approach help? This discussion was hosted by Sustainability at Sydney in partnership with the Sydney Environment Institute. Learn more about the event here . Speakers: Associate Professor Ed Couzens, University of Sydney Law School Dr. Tristan Salles, Facu...

In the final episode of the Unearthing Critical Minerals series, Professor Susan Park sits down with Dr Jewellord (Jojo) Nem Singh, an Assistant Professor in International Development, to understand the role the European Union (EU) is playing to reduce the environmental and social harms of critical mineral mining for renewable energy. The EU’s recently launched Critical Raw Minerals Act seeks to b...

In this episode, Professor Susan Parks sits down with political scientist Dr Donald Kingsbury as they delve into the contrasting experiences of mining communities in Canada, Australia, and South America. Explore the influences of mining company dynasties, extractive processes, and citizen engagement. Uncover how governments are actively de-risking the critical minerals industry and incentivising p...

In this episode, Professor Susan Parks sits down with geographer Dr Lian Sinclair to understand how critical minerals impact the communities and environments they interact with along their global production networks. They’ll discuss the geo-economic politics, power struggles and conflicts that are arising within these supply chains and the impacts at the local scale where the mines are located. Th...

In this episode, Professor Susan Park will unpack what are critical minerals and why they are key in our fight against climate change? Renewable energy is vital for the rapid global decarbonisation needed to reduce global warming. Yet renewable technologies comprise of rare earth elements like copper, cobalt and lithium, whose extraction and refinement process come with many significant environmen...

University of Sydney researchers discuss the recent United Nations Global Sustainable Development Report and how multidisciplinary research can help achieve a sustainable world. Learn more about the event here . Timestamps: 03:00 How the University of Sydney supports researchers in working alongside global partners to meet the SDGs - Amanda Sayan 13:20 How is the world performing at the SDGs? - Ja...

In this instalment of Grounded Conversations, political theorist Alyssa Battistoni joins Sydney Environment Institute researcher Anna Sturman to discuss the practical transformation of unjust systems in relation to climate change and critical scholarship. They will reflect on the role of care and multispecies justice in climate movements, and the different social and political contexts the USA and...

In recent years, Australia has been battered by catastrophic bushfires and floods exacerbated by climate change. It is also clear from these shock events that community organised actions fulfil an essential role in disaster preparation, response and recovery. With science warning that the intensity and frequency of fires, floods and other disasters will only increase in future, what lessons can be...

Industrial agriculture is a key contributor to the climate crisis, which threatens the resilience of our food systems. A panel of farmers and researchers explore farming practices that can help restore our ecosystems. This discussion is part of the Sydney Environment Institute’s Climate Adaptation series. As climate disasters increase, all sectors of society – from food supply chains to investment...

In the face of worsening climate disasters, the Sydney Environment Institute's Shoalhaven project seeks to understand the work being done by communities to protect animals during catastrophic fires, and how this can be better supported. As a way of reflecting back the wealth of information community members generously shared, the research team wrote and recorded a series of vignettes incorporating...

In the face of worsening climate disasters, the Sydney Environment Institute's Shoalhaven project seeks to understand the work being done by communities to protect animals during catastrophic fires, and how this can be better supported. As a way of reflecting back the wealth of information community members generously shared, the research team wrote and recorded a series of vignettes incorporating...

In the face of worsening climate disasters, the Sydney Environment Institute's Shoalhaven project seeks to understand the work being done by communities to protect animals during catastrophic fires, and how this can be better supported. As a way of reflecting back the wealth of information community members generously shared, the research team wrote and recorded a series of vignettes incorporating...

Professor Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize laureate and former U.S. Secretary of Energy during the Obama administration, presents new data on climate change that indicates that the Earth’s climate is more sensitive than previously thought. How we can transition from where we are heading to where we need to be within 50 years is one the most pressing set of issues that science, invention, and innovations...

What if politics were reoriented to take responsibility for planetary flourishing? Such an orientation has been labelled multispecies justice. While it is ‘new’ to modern Anglo-European philosophical and political traditions, multispecies justice grounds Indigenous approaches to ethical living. Hear from Indigenous scholars and artists as they discuss the potential for multispecies justice to prot...

Financial experts discuss the rapidly transitioning landscape of climate finance to explore how a variety of public and private financial actors are responding to climate change risks and opportunities, and what role finance can play in adaptation solutions. This discussion is part of the Sydney Environment Institute’s Climate Adaptation series. As climate disasters increase, all sectors of societ...

A panel of experts and climate activists discuss Australia’s race to mine critical minerals for renewable technology and the consequences of an unregulated approach. The transition to renewables such as solar, wind and lithium-ion batteries is vital to decarbonise our energy use, systems, and transport. Renewable energy technology relies on an intensification of mining of ‘critical minerals’ for t...

How has capitalism and colonialism rendered multispecies injustice business as usual? A panel of experts unpack this issue and consider what alternative structures could support conditions for justice. To understand the production of multispecies injustices requires widening the frame beyond specific acts of violence, exploitation and marginalisation. To counter such injustices and create alternat...

SEI Director Professor David Schlosberg sits down with multidisciplinary scholar Professor Farhana Sultana to discuss a broad range of pressing climate topics from political ecology to nature-society relationships. SEI’s Grounded Conversations Series highlights the potential of low-carbon academic networking and creates an environment where early career researchers can meet influential and impactf...

How can we adapt all sectors of society to respond to climate pressures? In the first event of SEI’s Climate Adaptation series, leading political scientist Daniel Aldrich delves into the meaning of climate adaptation and the role of social capital in building resilience. Learn more about this event here . Timestamps 00:50 Introduction: SEI Climate Adaptation series - Justin See 04:15 What is clima...

Many of us understand the gravity of the climate crisis and what needs to be done, so what’s standing in our way? What will it take for our future to be reimagined to enable all life to flourish? In this panel discussion, hear from researchers and communities from across Australia and India who are taking collective action to create real and sustainable futures. Learn more about this event here. T...

How can Australia successfully transition and adapt its interconnected social and technological systems as the climate crisis intensifies? Environmental law and governance expert, Dr Kate Owens, presents the 2023 Iain McCalman Lecture on how we can effectively harness climate governance to achieve deep coordination and sustained change. Learn more about this event here. Speaker Dr Kate Owens, Univ...

Property and ownership are at the core of global crises so how can we rethink our relationship with property and redistribute it in the interests of justice and the flourishing of life? Learn more about this event here . Timestamps 00:46 Introduction: unpacking property from the perspective of multispecies justice – Dinesh Wadiwel 4:51 Abolition for alternative geographies of abundance - Rosemary-...