Episode 29 of the Saving the World webinar series features Dr Matt Ryan, UTS Chancellor's Research Fellow and Hothouse Future Leaders Program Fellow (2024).
As we overshoot our climate targets, the solution remains crystal clear: stop burning fossil fuels, and build more renewables – but who should build them, and why? The norm in places with privatised energy systems (like Australia) is for these new infrastructures to be privately owned, developed to generate ongoing profits. In this webinar, drawing on perspectives from history and political economy, Matt will explore the case for publicly owned renewable power. It would seem that this approach is preferable across the grounds of emissions reduction, equity, engineering, and cost – so what is the catch? As we increasingly question privatisation across many aspects of economic life, it is time to revisit power.
The ‘Saving the World’ webinar series, presented by the Planetary Health Equity Hothouse, releases a new episode each month, discussing the intersections between climate change, inequity and human health. The webinars focus on actions that enable transformative change away from the harmful consumptogenic system to systems that promote good health, social equity and environmental wellbeing.
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Event Speakers
Dr Matt Ryan
Matt is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work examines the history of the Australian political economy, and contemporary energy policy, in the context of climate change. He is a Chancellor’s Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney, and former Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Climate & Energy Program at the Australia Institute.
Professor Sharon Friel
Sharon Friel is an ARC Laureate Fellow and Professor of Health Equity in the School of Regulation and Global Governance. She is Director of the Planetary Health Equity Hothouse and Australian Research Centre for Health Equity (ARCHE) at the Australian National University.