WOMADelaide - The Planet Talks

A Green Growth Economy - WOMADelaide 2016

Speakers: Ross Garnaut | John Hewson

Host: Lenore Taylor

Is economic growth possible if we truly address climate change or will a transition require serious economic pain before any gain? Is coal about to disappear as fast as Kodak did and, if so, can new energy technologies deliver a ‘win-win’ for the environment and the economy? This panel features some of our foremost economic and political minds discussing the possibility of a new economy and clean growth.

Off the grid game changers - WOMADelaide 2016

Speakers: Simon Hackett | Dan Spencer | Felicia Whiting

Host: Robyn Williams

Three South Australian leaders of 'off the grid innovation and activism' look at what the near future could hold in powering homes, business, streets and cities. Will there be any place for coal fired power stations in that future?

What's Love Got To Do With It - WOMADelaide 2016

Speakers: David Suzuki | Indira Naidoo | Amelia Telford

Host: Robyn Williams

Is winning the battle for our hearts more important than the economy, politics and carbon numbers? As we increasingly live in cities is our society losing its connection with nature? If so, how might we change this? Our panel looks at cultivating love for the environment and how this helps bring about positive change at the human rather than political level.

David Suzuki - Keynote - WOMADelaide 2016

Speaker: David Suzuki

MC: Robyn Williams

For four decades Canadian David Suzuki has been one of the most prominent, articulate, passionate and effective advocates for our planet and its environment. At 79 he shows no sign of slowing down. Spend an hour with one of the greatest eco-warriors of our time.

Repairing the Blue Heart of our Planet - WOMADelaide 2015

Speakers: Sylvia Earle, Charlie Veron, Bronwyn Gillanders

Host: Bernie Hobbs

Marine experts have warned that we are in the middle of an unprecedented high-risk period of marine species extinction. On our watch the world’s oceans and natural wonders like The Great Barrier Reef have borne the brunt of a potent combination of over-fishing, pollution, unparalleled mining and farming run-offs, the acidification of the seas caused by increasing carbon dioxide emissions and the disruptive results of rising water temperatures. Our panel, three highly regarded marine scientists, discuss the vast challenge ahead to reverse these dire predictions for our blue heart. As Sylvia Earle herself said - “life depends on the ocean, and to save it we must love it.”

Can Human Beings Be Well When The Planet Is Sick? - WOMADelaide 2015

Speakers: Paul Willis, Emily Johnston, Ingo Weber

Host: Bernie Hobbs

Is health the forgotten latecomer to climate change? The change in global temperatures is already causing significant stresses on human populations and we'll need to adapt to a hotter climate regardless of successful emissions reductions. What is the impact likely to be and how might we mitigate it? Our panel of health and science experts discuss what climate change means to our health and well-being.

Valuing Our Planet - WOMADelaide 2015

Speakers: Vandana Shiva, Paul Sutton, Tim Jarvis 

Host: Robyn Williams

A famous native American proverb says 'Only when the last tree has died, and the last river been poisoned, and the last fish been caught, will we realise we cannot eat money.' The panel's three leaders challenge this pessimistic prediction by discussing values - financial and what we love and care about - that we place on our land, food and water. They will range across themes including seed democracy, urbanisation and land management and what this means for the health of the planet and ourselves.

The Silver Lining in the Cloud of Climate Change - WOMADelaide 2015

Speakers: Cecilia Woolford, Peter Langridge, Bob Brown

Host: Robyn Williams

Are our climate-altering activities hurtling us towards a bleak fate or is this the catalyst for a new era of environmentally sustainable ideas and innovation? Are we witnessing the dawning of an unstoppable wave of action and leadership? According to our panelists we do have the ideas, innovation, motivation and people to give us the hope that we can and will respond to the challenge. Listen to our visionary panel discuss the optimistic future they have seen emerging in business, agriculture, politics and society.

When Polly Met Peter And Tim - WOMADelaide 2014

Speakers: Polly Higgins | Peter Garrett | Tim Flannery

Hosted by: Bernie Hobbs

Find out what happens when one of the world’s most visionary thinkers in the area of law and environmental action - Polly Higgins - meets Australia's leading environmental thinker, writer and activist Tim Flannery and former government minister, ACF president and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett for a frank conversation about why and how the law and legislation must tackle climate change.