Regional Energy Transitions in Australia: From Impossible to Possible

About the event:

At this critical moment in Australia’s history, there’s never been a more important time to learn from the regions and leaders driving the transition to net zero. 

While the transition from fossil fuel electricity generation to renewable energy is well underway, many challenges remain, including growing community opposition, misinformation campaigns, and political and investor uncertainty.  

This event will explore the experience of the transition in five of Australia’s key coal regions (Latrobe Valley, Port Augusta, Collie, Hunter Valley and Central Queensland), as captured in the recently released book, Regional Energy Transitions: From impossible to possible. Speakers will explore how regional leaders across Australia continue to navigate complex energy politics, highlighting key lessons from the last decade of rapid change.  

Come and be part of an honest and grounded conversation about where the energy transition is at, the challenges that remain, and what regions need to better manage the impacts and capture the benefits for the long term.

About the speakers

Professor John Wiseman 

Professor John Wiseman is a Senior Research Fellow with Melbourne Climate Futures and an Adjunct Professor at Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne. He is also Chair of the Board of The Next Economy. Previous roles include: Visiting Fellow, Centre for Climate Economics and Policy, ANU; Deputy Director, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne; Director, McCaughey Centre for the Promotion of Mental Health and Community Wellbeing, University of Melbourne; and Assistant Director, Policy Development and Research, Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet. John’s current work focuses on creating and restoring a just and regenerative safe climate future. Recent publications include Regional Energy Transitions in Australia: From Impossible to Possible, Routledge 2024 and Hope and Courage in the Climate Crisis: Wisdom and Action in the Long Emergency Palgrave, 2021. 

Gareth Edwards

Gareth is a Visiting Associate Professor at the School of Global Development, University of East Anglia and a Visiting Fellow at the Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney. Following a PhD which examined the social construction of water scarcity and neoliberalization of water governance in Australia, his research has focused predominantly on climate change, particularly urban climate governance, environmental justice and climate justice.

In 2021-23 Gareth held a Leverhulme International Fellowship to explore justifications for ongoing coal extraction in Australia and India. He also led a British Academy-funded project ‘A just transition away from coal in Australia’ which examined what ‘just transition’ means and the challenges to achieving a just transition away from coal in Australia. The project developed insights on how to stimulate productive discussions between different stakeholders and communities to promote a just transition.

Amanda Cahill 

Amanda is the CEO of The Next Economy. Over the last decade, Amanda has supported government, industry, workers and community groups to understand and manage the energy transition across Queensland, the Hunter Valley, the Latrobe Valley and the Northern Territory. This has included designing and delivering the Gladstone Economic Transition Roadmap; contributing to the design of the Net Zero Economy Authority; authoring various reports including What Regions Need on the Path to Net Zero (2022); and hosting an International Just Transitions Network. This work has shaped her contribution as a co-editor and author of Regional Energy Transitions in Australia: From Impossible to Possible.

Sharan Burrow AC

Sharan Burrow is a global advocate for human rights, climate action and Just Transition. She is the Former General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (2010-2022). Previously she was President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (2000–2010).  

Sharan is well known for her international advocacy on employment, human rights, industrial relations, corporate responsibility and climate action with just transition solutions.  

She has represented workers and civil society groups in global policy discussions in United Nations bodies, on the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation as well as at the tables of the G7, G20, World Bank and International Monetary Fund. She has twice been a Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos. 

Sharan is currently a Visiting Professor in Practice at the LSE-Grantham Institute, a board director and an advisor concerning climate, nature, just transitions, skills, rights and sustainability.

Dan Musil

Dan Musil is a practitioner and researcher who has been involved in work around low-carbon transition in the Latrobe Valley for over a decade. Dan’s PhD research explores possibilities for energy transition and transformation, with a focus on worker-ownership, economic democracy. Dan is also Secretary of the Earthworker Cooperative – an initiative to build more just, democratic and sustainable economies in Australia and beyond.