Climate Changers (ATOM Study Guide)

Climate Changers follows Tim Flannery’s search for leadership on climate change. Where are the leaders who will drive change? How might they succeed where others have failed? 

Tim poses these questions as he meets global leaders from the corridors of power and frontlines of climate change.

Climate Changers delves into what frustrates Tim, what motivates him, and where he believes the solutions lie to humanity’s greatest challenge. This immersive journey takes Tim from his early days as a palaeontologist, observing the first signs of climate change, to his tireless efforts at Copenhagen’s COP15 in 2009, to fending off deeply personal attacks from deniers and right-wing media, to Glasgow’s COP26 in 2021, and to today’s pressing geopolitical challenges and the fossil fuel industry’s obstruction of change. And yet, as Tim finds, there are still many causes for hope. 

Each person Tim talks to brings their own story and lessons: a West Papuan villager, a former Chair of COP15 in Copenhagen, a former Prime Minister of Australia, an Australian state government energy minister, a CEO industrialist former-polluter now-hydrogen-zealot, a barefoot engineer and climate change advisor to Joe Biden, an international human rights activist, a Torres Strait activist on the frontlines of sea level rise, a Chief of the Kwaio tribe in Solomon Islands, a Scottish geographer, and a CEO of an Aboriginal land council. Each identifies solutions and models for potential pathways through this perilous landscape.

While the science is not in question, and we already know the solutions to climate change, finding the necessary leadership on this issue has proven elusive. Do we have the leaders to take us to a greener future?

Curriculum Links:

Climate Changers is relevant to the learning areas of: 

• Science (Earth and Space Sciences, Science as a Human Endeavour) – Years 7-10
• Humanities and Social Sciences (Geography, Civics and Citizenship) – Years 7-10
• Science (Earth and Environmental Science) – Years 11-12
• Geography – Years 11-12
• English – Years 7-12
• The Arts (Media) – Years 7-12

It can also be linked to the general capabilities of:

• Critical and Creative Thinking
• Personal and Social Capability
• Ethical Understanding
• Intercultural Understanding

In addition to the cross-curriculum priorities of:

• Sustainability
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
• Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia

More information on the project can be found here.