Leaving No Worker Behind And Setting World Records - Alexander Horton Is Holding The Tongs

Leaving No Worker Behind And Setting World Records - Alexander Horton Is Holding The Tongs

Today’s guest is Alexander Horton - or Big Al as he’s seemingly become through his social media alter ego in recent weeks. Alex is in the midst of breaking a Guiness World Record for the biggest BBQ lesson of all time, as part of a larger mission to break and take back for Australia the record for the biggest BBQ ever - somewhere in the vicinity of 45,000 people. But beyond the BBQ record efforts, Alex is someone who works in what is possibly the most substantial next horizon of necessary activity as part of the energy transition, and definitely the most disregarded. Who actually designs, builds, installs and maintains the infrastructure involved in the largest infrastructural transformation in this nation’s history? By every metric Australia is materially distant from the scores of different types of workers and skillsets required to deliver on its decarbonisation aspirations. And beyond the issue of simply not getting this done, the current dynamic of workforce shortages creates perverse and adverse outcomes - like the information about the lack of quality and care involved in the home battery scheme over the last 12 months. Why would I need to take care and do excellent work when firstly the incentive is just to do the minimal amount of work in the shortest amount of time, but when there is a gigantic shortage of who can install hundreds of thousands of batteries? So I wanted to chat with Alex about the workforce dynamics of Australia’s energy transition, as well as the idea of green jobs and a shift required in the education, story telling and policy landscapes to make headway. From the hundreds of large scale renewable projects and the tens of thousands of kilometres of transmission lines required, to household electricians, to new types of procurement expertise required in a new energy system and the ways by which finance could structure collective benefit community battery programs, the task ahead of Australia is both gargantuan but also exciting. In all of this though is the reality of who loses and how do you support workers and communities affected by the phasing out and structural decline of coal and gas? In a context where examples of successful workforce transitions are almost non existent, what lessons do exist and who takes on responsibility for those who will lose high paying jobs in the communities they call home? In this episode we get into all of this, as well as his Big BBQ concept in much more detail. That comes from a desire to speak with whose who aren’t already engaged and believers in the mission of a renewable energy future that powers new economies. Alex is driving new types of conversations in new types of places, and that’s courageous. It’s easy to stay in the echo chamber and express righteous indignation and point the blame at everybody else. But getting out there, and getting out there publicly in a way where the likelihood of success is only as great as the likelihood of failure is brave. Support for this episode comes from: * Reposit Power [https://repositpower.com/findingnature] - $500 off your solar battery installation.  * Planet Protein [https://planetprotein.co/] - double the value of your first order at no extra cost. Send me a message [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2329324/fan_mail/new] Thanks for listening. Follow Finding Nature on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/__findingnature__/]

Beyond Box Ticking And Addressing Competency Greenwashing - Alexander Pui Wants You To Care

Alexander Pui is back on the show today for his third appearance. He’s been one of the most popular guests over the history of the Finding Nature podcast and I jumped at the opportunity to chat again while he was recently back in Sydney. For those who know Alex they know they’re in for the usual standard of excellence regarding all things physical climate risk, the state of activity and effort underway to better understand future scenarios and how the science of climate change is outpacing meaningful efforts to mitigate emissions and their long lasting impacts and risks everywhere. For those newer to the show, Alex has been an important figure in my own career when we worked together at a very large yellow coloured bank in Australia, before he moved to Japan a couple of years ago to take on a lead role in climate risk across Asia Pacific with one of the world’s largest professional services organisations.Over the course of his career he’s worked in banking, insurance, reinsurance and consulting, he’s also an Adjunct Fellow at the University of New South Wales and Visiting Scholar at Kyushu University. For our third time around the Finding Nature microphones we get into a lot of topics and themes that are both updates on previous episodes as well as fresh from both of our insights and work over the last 12 months. From the experience of oppressive heat and new heatwave classification systems in Japan to the impacts of storms, flooding and typhoons across Asia in 2025. We get into the expectations and the science of the emerging super El Niño and what the next period of supercharged climate activity is likely to bring, the quality and value of the recently completed Climate Vulnerability Assessment into the Australian insurance industry, where insurers are and aren’t acting, the lessons and practicalities of climate risk management when all the attention is now on box ticking the new Australian climate disclosure legislation, and one of my very favourite topics - competence greenwashing. There’s also an insight into a potential climate resilience idea in Japan for the Australian listener right at the very end, so stay tuned for that one and get in contact if it interests you. Support for this episode comes from: * Reposit Power [https://repositpower.com/findingnature] - $500 off your solar battery installation.  * Planet Protein [https://planetprotein.co/] - double the value of your first order at no extra cost. Send me a message [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2329324/fan_mail/new] Thanks for listening. Follow Finding Nature on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/__findingnature__/]

What It Takes - Adrian MacDonald Leads An Ultra Life

So imagine that it’s 5am and you're standing in the cold and dark in the Blue Mountains, you’re there with 1500 other people. You’re carrying all the gear you’ll need for the next 24 hours, a headlamp on, and what lays ahead is running 100 kilometres through the beauty that is the Blue Mountains. Up and down the cliffsides, through and across the Megalong, Jamison and Kedumba Valleys. For almost no prize money for those that finish as the first few through, little notoriety outside of this niche community, why do these people do something that appears entirely insane, if not downright dangerous to the normal person. To pursue. To seek. To explore limits, potential, to understand what it is we’re truly capable of. And today’s guest is a real treat, and one of the very best in the world at not only running really far, but at speeds that would put him at the front of every running group you’ve ever seen. Adrian MacDonald [https://www.instagram.com/macdonaldadrian/] is one of the world’s best ultra distance runners, and it was both a thrill and a pleasure to speak with him in the lead up to him racing in Ultra Trail Australia over the weekend, where he placed third in an astonishing time of 9 hours and 32 minutes to cover 101 kilometres to go with 4400 metres of elevation. So why would I want to speak with an ultra running distance athlete on what is ostensibly a podcast about sustainability and issues like climate change, corporate incentive structures and justice? Because to me the ultra athlete and the sustainability professional are ultimately the same archetype. Both are seeking to shift norms and seek accomplishments well outside of what the current system ill-defines as appropriate and acceptable. The ultra athlete perseveres, as does the sustainability professional. The ultra athlete needs total clarity of purpose to withstand the ups and downs of whatever a course and race will throw at them, as does the sustainability professional. The ultra athlete is a model for those of us seeking change, to do what seems implausible and to practice action with deliberacy, intention and constant attention to all the small details in pursuit of that grand dream. Adrian’s story though, even for an ultra athlete, where unusual stories and maverick personalities are the regular, really is something else. A track and road marathon athlete of serious note, Covid upended his Boston Marathon ambitions in 2020, and living in Fort Collins, Colorado, nestled against the Rocky Mountains, he hit the trails. Less than 18 months later he won one of the world’s most prestigious ultra marathons - the Leadville 100 - before backing up again 12 months later and also winning another big race in New Zealnd - three from three in his first three ultras. A new star was born. Since then, Adrian’s life has shifted from being a regular financial controller at Colorado State University to a sponsored athlete with one of the world’s leading apparel and shoe brands, and racing in Europe, across the US, Australia, New Zealand, South America and Africa. What he’s achieved is the desired story of every sustainability professional - to work diligently, outside of the limelight, until one day, a largely unpredictable day, shifts how life was and will no longer be how it was again. Speaking with Adrian, being able to spend time with someone of such pedigree, has lit a fire in me. I hope it does the same for you. Support for this episode comes from: * Reposit Power [https://repositpower.com/findingnature] - $500 off your solar battery installation.  * Planet Protein [https://planetprotein.co] - double the value of your first order at no extra cost. Send me a message [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2329324/fan_mail/new] Thanks for listening. Follow Finding Nature on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/__findingnature__/]

A New Climate And Energy Dawn - Thom Woodroofe On The Path From The Paris Agreement To A Necessary Future

Today’s guest is Thom Woodroofe. Thom is the author of the latest In the National Interest series titled ‘Power, Prosperity and Planet: Climate and Energy Policy For All [https://publishing.monash.edu/product/power-prosperity-planet/]’. For the best part of 20 years Thom has worked across diplomacy, global affairs and climate policy - from playing a key role in securing the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015 and helping to establish the High Ambition Coalition of progressive nations. He’s worked as chief of staff to former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in his role of Australian Ambassador to the US, forged a backchannel for US–China climate talks during his time at the Asia Society in New York, to go with being a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. Why did I want to chat to Thom? Well let me read you snippets of the recommendations for his book. Firstly, Kevin Rudd, “‘Thom Woodroofe is a rare talent. In Power, Prosperity & Planet, Woodroofe draws on his deep policy expertise, tempered by political insights from the front lines of the climate and energy debates raging around the globe. The result is a tour-de-force – a practical and informed white paper for all Australians, policymakers and citizens alike, who care about the future of their country and their planet.” Secondly, Malcolm Turnbull “Climate deniers obfuscate with ideology and idiocy, but as this book shows meeting the climate challenge requires engineering and economics and a practical blueprint that empowers all of us.” And last but certainly not least, Christiana Figueres, the architect of the Paris Agreement - “The Paris Agreement provides the global foundation, but it is up to every country now to walk the walk through the kinds of ideas contained in this book.” I really enjoyed this conversation with Thom, and we get through a considerable amount, which represents the breadth and depth of his experiences and knowledge. From his first job out of uni working with the Marshall Islands and advising on their global climate advocacy and diplomacy, to the COP process and part of the remarkable story he had a literal front row seat at in 2015, to his observations and insights from Europe, the UK, US and China that place Australia’s decarbonisation efforts in a broader context, to the pragmatic policy opportunities to drive further emissions reductions as quickly as possible. What I found valuable though speaking with Thom and reading his book is the necessity to ground all of this work and these conversations in what they mean for the average person - and as we’ve seen over the weekend with One Nation winning a lower house seat in parliament - being able to reach and communicate with disillusioned and disempowered people in every part of this country remains the number one challenge in driving the energy transition and broader climate policies. Thom’s work and this chat dives into both of our own reservations and uncertainties on how to best do this, but the necessity to do so. Support the organisations contributing to a healthier, safer and more just future.  * Reposit Power - get $500 off your solar battery install, plus seven years no electricity bill. * Planet Protein - tasty, convenient, plant-based, high protein food for all occasions.  Ep.116 Send me a message [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2329324/fan_mail/new] Thanks for listening. Follow Finding Nature on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/__findingnature__/]

Built To Create - Holly Rankin Is The Voice Of A Generation

As for remarkable and impressive people - Holly Rankin is one of those. Born and raised in regional New South Wales, she experienced the worst form of loss and trauma during her teenage years and over the past two decades has built a life and career and accomplishment set that is as incredible as it is diverse. From being nominated as an ARIA breakthrough and best new pop release artist, to helping to form and establish David Pocock’s political career to her work more recently in advocating for some form of justice for content creators and creatives against big tech’s theft of all things human made. Holly is a writer, musician, activist, community builder, festival maker, business owner, political strategist and campaign director, to go with being a mother. I first heard of Holly nearly 12 months ago when the devastating mid north NSW floods occurred - she provided a rallying call to politicians and institutional systems and actors to play a role in a rain event that devastated entire communities and left thousands homeless, traumatised and uncertain. Later in the year she gave the 2025 Speaker’s Address to members of the federal parliament and press and it was an articulation of so much of what I have been curious about and seeking to better understand. From youth disenfranchisement to the growth of anti-science political parties to the lack of quality in reporting and media from mainstream businesses and a call to arms to model the type of society they want to govern. We chat about that speech and much of what she covered in far more detail, but that speech is one to dig out through the podcast annals. This was exactly the type of conversation I love having - from the meta and macro trends affecting our lives in visible and invisible ways to the experience of fear and fearlessness as an individual attempting to chart a course. We chat about the proposed text and data mining exception in the copyright act the productivity commission and big tech thought is a good idea, the reckoning already arriving from the climate crisis, activating and creating enduring communities and movements, as well as the personal - grief, growth and becoming a parent. Holly is already a leader. I know enough to know that she is someone whose going to make a big difference in the years to come. For $500 off your home renewable installation, head to Reposit Power [https://repositpower.com/findingnature] for an exclusive Finding Nature offer.  Send me a message [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2329324/fan_mail/new] Thanks for listening. Follow Finding Nature on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/__findingnature__/]