Climate and environmental activist, Copenhagen Climate Council Chair and 2007 Australian of the Year, Professor Tim Flannery inspires many, with his passion, enthusiasm and commitment to the environment and sustainability. Hearing him speak only reinforces his commitment to and conviction that a sustainable future can be secured if action is taken.

He believes humans have a responsibility to assist in the living planet’s climate regulation, advocates for the need to end all conventional coal-fired power generation by 2030, believes an agreement between China and the United States will lead international commitments to tackling climate change, and posits the creation of an Australian city powered by geothermal energy, Geothermia, and a global community linked by cyberspace as the brains behind our planet’s climate regulation. Professor Flannery believes these things are achievable and that if we’re smart, we can regulate and achieve sustainability.

Global climate change action

As Chair of the Copenhagen Climate Council, Professor Flannery is playing a leading part in forging a global agreement on climate change action.

The Council’s role is to assist governments around the world to broker an effective global treaty. The Council defies the belief that the economic impacts of climate change action are too high, bringing together ‘global thought leaders’ from business and science. Its 30 councillors include Virgin Group CEO Sir Richard Branson, Suntech CEO Dr Zhengrong Shi and Vestas Wind Energy Systems A/S CEO Ditlev Enge.

To name a few of the significant changes that have accelerated the move for global action on climate change, Professor Flannery cites President Barack Obama’s election, advancing climate negotiations between the United States and China, and the importance of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), known as the Waxman Markey Bill, and that if passed, will introduce a cap and trade scheme and emission reduction targets.

On the global front, there will be an agreement at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) meeting in Copenhagen in December, he says, but it is the bilateral treaties and action by significant global players that will lead the way in climate change abatement.

“It’s interesting, when you talk to those who are still trying to forge a global agreement, it’s almost impossible. I think that that’s going to be short-circuited by the US-China agreement, which will be a game-changer,” he says.

These negotiations have been ongoing for several years and Professor Flannery says the two nations have natural synergies and mutual interests in terms of energy policy to create a win-win solution. Together, they also account for 40 per cent of the world’s emissions and are a “huge power block” that will drive a global treaty.

“If they were to come together with an agreed position at the table at Copenhagen then we will see advances being made and the rest of the world will have very little choice but to move forward with the initiative taken,” he says.

Professor Flannery speaks highly of the Obama Administration, mentioning Energy Secretary Steve Chu – a former Copenhagen Council Councillor – and Science Secretary John Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology. He particularly admires the President’s vision and his placing climate change at the top of his agenda.

“He understands that many of the world’s problems are linked in with the imbalances caused by the distribution of fossil fuels. He understands that many of the social inequities and the illnesses of the American political system are effectively tied in with that effective monopolisation of power through the fossil rich countries and companies. And it’s something that he’s very anxious to address,” says Professor Flannery.

Renewables in Australia

So what does Professor Flannery’s Australian sustainable energy future look like? All renewables will have a role but he pinpoints geothermal, solar and biomass as the leading players – geothermal for large scale, power hungry energy users such as minerals processing and mining; solar for a smart grid in urban areas; and biomass for power generation.

Geothermal has the potential to deliver base load, cheap and local energy. Professor Flannery says that with government will, the flow of capital would “transform” the industry and fast-track its capacity to deliver.

Solar energy is the single most important of the renewable energy sources for our longer term energy future, Professor Flannery told delegates at the ATRAA 2009 Conference & Exhibition. It is deployable at any scale, it directly harvests the ultimate source of Earth’s power – the sun – and, costs to deploy it are moving toward price parity with traditional sources.

“I think photovoltaics are going to be incredibly important, particularly as part of the smart grid in urban areas,” he says.

“I don’t think intermittency is going to be a problem if we develop smart grid and electric car technologies because the cars will be the storage for the energy.”

But the message Professor Flannery keeps returning to is the urgent need to phase out conventional coal by 2030. The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and the Renewable Energy Target represent a first step on the part of Australia’s political leaders but Professor Flannery says he would swap all renewable and climate change policy for one regulation that would see a shift away from conventional coal.

“I would swap all of Australia’s policies in the renewable energy area for a simple change, which would just be to phase out all conventional coal burning by 2030 because that’s what the science says we need to do. Just that simple regulation and then just ramp up the MRET or some equivalent mechanism,” he says.

“Our best chance of not experiencing dangerous climate change is served if we can decommission, or retrofit, all conventional coal by 2030.”

He knows that a global treaty won’t recognise this as a way of moving forward, but says it does represent an opportunity for Australia to recognise the science, show political will and take sustainable action.

What’s next?

Professor Flannery believes humans will be the life force of Gaia, or the planet, guiding it with a “deft touch for nature” and regulating its system to encourage and achieve sustainability.

More importantly though, where are we today and what we do now to achieve this in the future? The answer – to learn to act as the Gaia’s regulatory, guiding light – is no small task.

“We still live in a tribal world, where war is a thinkable thing. Ant colonies don’t have internal wars and our body doesn’t have internal wars, unless something goes wrong. Peace is an absolute prerequisite,” he explains.

Interconnectedness is another vital ingredient. “We’ve got to have the ability to work together. And the internet and the new democratic processes flowing from it are really part of that. You can see that in the great global treaties of the late twentieth century – such as Kyoto – which were attempts to do this in a very imperfect world.

“And for me, every little step we take toward creating this human family rather than nations is a step towards achieving sustainability.”

Co-operation and control to regulate the planet

“Competition might be the driving force of evolution but its enduring legacy is co-operation…Ultimately Gaia would have a commanding control system that co-ordinates its parts and that control system will be human intelligence.”

Tim Flannery is an internationally acclaimed scientist, explorer and conservationist. Professor Flannery is one of Australia’s leading thinkers and writers. His books include ecological histories of Australia and North America, `The Weather Makers: The History & Future Impact of Climate Change´ and `Now or Never: A sustainable future for Australia?´. He is also Recipient of Centenary of Federation medal for his service to science, and in 2002 became the first environmentalist to deliver the Australia Day address to the nation.