You’re invited to a special online meeting with Dr Mark Diesendorf to discuss: The role of state capture in the looming climate catastrophe.

The meeting is on Thursday 4 December at 6:00pm AEDT.
It’s free but you must register here: 
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/nin5JcAoR0m8LtVgAUi33A

After Mark's presentation there will be time for a Q&A and further discussion.

Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions have been approximately flat since 2021. Unless new government policies are implemented, it will be impossible for Australia to achieve zero or even net zero emissions by 2050.

Australia’s slow energy transition and the government’s continuing support for new coal and gas fields for export can be attributed to state capture by vested interests, including fossil fuel, fossil transport, financial services and property industries. Vested interests use the same methods to capture the nation-state on a much wider range of issues – e.g. environment, social justice, democracy, human and worker rights, housing, gambling, and defence.

These methods include revolving door jobs, political donations, concentrated media ownership, so-called ‘think tanks’, inadequately monitored lobbying, and neoliberalism. Community-based NGOs active on each of the big issues could progress their individual causes by forming an alliance to expose and challenge the methods of state capture.

About our guest speaker

Dr Mark Diesendorf is Honorary Associate Professor in Environment & Society at UNSW Sydney.

Previously he was Professor of Environmental Science and Founding Director of the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney.

His latest book is ‘The Path to a Sustainable Civilisation: Technological, socioeconomic and political change’ (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023). Web: markdiesendorf.com

Mark also recently wrote this article for SEARCH on the need to reduce energy use to meet climate targets: https://www.search.org.au/growing_consumption_is_slowing_the_energy_transition