Reimagining Environmental Responsibility

In response to the dire findings of the recent State of the Environment Report, this panel will explore the political, economic and ideological constraints that got us here, and the ways forward to ensure meaningful environmental protection.

The recent State of the Environment Report lays out the dire conditions of the Australian environment, and the ongoing threats from development and climate change. This panel discussion will explore the political, economic, and legal pathways that got us here – and creative ways forward for environmental protection.

Our experts will look back at the various political, economic, and ideological constraints that have brought us to this current ‘state of the environment’. Focusing on current limitations, we will examine the deliberate construction of inadequate policies and funding, the criminalisation of protest, and the understanding of ‘responsibility’ that actually protects perpetrators of environmental damage.

Crucially, we will then look forward to creative ways to reshape conceptual, political, and economic relations – with each other and the environment – as the necessary response to the State of the Environment report. This includes ideas for a just transition to sustainability which reconciles vigorous environmental protections with productive economic policy, notions of responsibility that expand the concept beyond human beings alone, and the role of First Nations perspectives on care, connection, and place so crucial to human/environment relations in Australia.

Speakers

Professor Danielle Celermajer, University of Sydney

Professor Rosemary Lyster, University of Sydney

Professor Emeritus Frank Stilwell, University of Sydney

David Morris, Environmental Defenders Office

Professor David Schlosberg (Chair), Sydney Environment Institute