TIM FLANNERY IS A TRUTH TELLER
SUBJECT Tim Flannery
OCCUPATION Conservationist
INTERVIEWER Kaj Löfgren
PHOTOGRAPHER Ryan Lash
LOCATION Sydney, Australia
DATE October, 2019
In the days before the 2009 Climate Summit in Copenhagen, Tim Flannery wrote: “Millions of years from now it will still be possible to read in Earth’s rocks the success, or failure, of our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” Whilst the magnitude of our climate emergency is overwhelming, Tim’s background as a paleontologist humbly reminds us that the natural world will continue, with or without us.
During the height of hope and before the explosion of Australia’s climate policy wars, Tim was recognised as the Australian of the Year in 2007. Tim has also published over a dozen books and is currently the Chief Councillor of the Climate Council. I spoke with him after his recent return from Melanesia, one of his many trips into the region. I learn that, despite the inherently global challenges of the climate crisis (and perhaps because of this), Tim’s personal energy is drawn from self-organising, small-scale projects of rehabilitation and repair; projects that he has been part of for almost 40 years. There is something to be learned from this. Perhaps connection and community will give us the personal resilience and interconnected strength to grapple with the scope of the crisis we face?
Our chat is seemingly a microcosm of the broader climate discourse, bouncing from the details of climate science, to politics and culture, and to discussions of the human condition at the heart of it all. I’m left with a deeper acceptance of the harm we have caused our planet, but also with a renewed sense of hope. Every action that individuals, organisations and governments take from here still matters. And inspired by the explosive emergence of Extinction Rebellion and the climate strikes, it is clear a new phase of work has begun.
KAJ LÖFGREN: So my first exposure to you and your work was when I received the year 12 maths prize. The prize that I was given was a copy of The Birth of Melbourne.
TIM FLANNERY: Oh really! Oh good! Did you enjoy it?
I did! I was re-reading the introduction and you mention your early fishing trips in Port Phillip Bay and the magical world of the Beaumaris fossil beds. Was that the starting point of
