Shifting the Climate: Overview : SBS Insight

Overview

Australia’s leading forum program returns for its second series of 2008 to ask: are we tackling climate change the right way?

Add Your Comments

Currently 137 comments

The federal government is stressing we 'must act now' to cut greenhouse gas emissions. But are we doing enough?

Insight host Jenny Brockie investigates how other countries are cutting carbon emissions, sometimes with impressive results. So is the federal government's emphasis on an emissions trading scheme the best way to go?

Jenny Brockie brings together home owners, the head of the London Climate Change Agency Allan Jones and leaders of Australian industry such as Heather Ridout from the Australian Industry Group and Maria Atkinson, global sustainability manager for Lead Lease, to talk about what else we could be doing right now to cut carbon emissions.

Meet the Guests

Allan Jones

Allan Jones is the CEO of the London Climate Change Agency where he is working on reducing London’s carbon emissions by 60% relative to 1990 levels by 2025. Previously at Woking Borough Council, Mr Jones reduced CO2 emissions by 77.5 per cent by taking the community partially off the national electricity grid.

Matthew Driver

Matthew Driver and his family were concerned about their carbon emissions and spent $10,000 making their Canberra home more energy efficient, reducing their electricity consumption by 80%.

Maria Atkinson

Maria Atkinson is the Global Head of Sustainability for Lendlease, an international property development group based in Australia. Maria is passionate about green buildings and is also a director of the Green Building Council of Australia.

Senator Mark Arbib

Mark Arbib is a Labor Senator for New South Wales. He was elected in the 2007 federal election and took up his position in the Senate in July this year.

Scott Morrison

Scott Morrison is the Federal Liberal Member for Cook in New South Wales. He was elected in November 2007.

Kerry Shepherd

Kerry Shepherd and her husband Chris Walton have built a sustainable house in Currumbin Queensland which has been awarded the Housing IA’s Greensmart Building of the Year award.