How to talk about climate change with family and friends over the holidays

All Christmases tend to merge into one, but I remember the Christmas of 2007 rather well.

Talking to family and friends about climate change over
the holidays does not have to be daunting and difficult.

I got my first job as a climate campaigner that summer and by the end of December had absorbed enough climate facts to fundamentally – and permanently – alter my view of the world. I remember sitting in the corner during the family games wondering how they didn’t know what I knew, why they didn’t care.

But when they asked me about my new job, I dodged the question.

Talking about climate change during family holidays is hard. Even when you live it every day, like I do, the topic can feel too depressing, too divisive, too judgy to bring up. We can see this in the polling figures. In April 2019, six in ten Americans still said they “rarely or never” discussed the topic with family or friends.

But we also know that talking about climate change matters.

Read the story from Climate Home News by Robin Webster - “How to talk about climate change with family and friends over the holidays.”

There’s some sunlight beyond the climate doom, and it's coming from business

We live in anxious times. That is understandable. But as all eyes look to Canberra for a solution to the pressing problem of climate change, it's important – and heartening – to remember a lot of work is already being done.

The Green Wattle fire in Orangeville, NSW on December 6.

Indeed, despite lacking a clear carbon price signal from government, corporate Australia has for some time now been factoring a "shadow" carbon price into long-term decision-making.

Why? Not because Canberra is telling it to, but because climate change is the new business reality.

It's a reality that will impose significant costs on business, including the direct costs of extreme weather events, the impact of shifting weather patterns on the agricultural sector, health and productivity impacts for workers and trade disruptions arising from other countries’ attempts to tackle climate change.

Read the opinion piece from The Age by Jessica Irvine - “There’s some sunlight beyond the climate doom, and it's coming from business.”

The ‘No surprises here’ case.

The important thing to remember about Tony Abbott is that nobody wanted him. Whenever he intervenes in public debate, this fact should overwhelm all others.

It was by accident that he was ever leader: a single vote, determined after Joe Hockey’s clod-handed intervention in the ballot. When Abbott won the 2013 election, he did so in spite of himself. The Coalition triumphed over his deep and sustained unpopularity.

Tony Abbott is a champion of lost causes, none more so than himself. When he joined the National Civic Council at university, the Democratic Labor Party was already a spent force. His first great political mentor, B. A. Santamaria, was preaching the end of days without realising that only his were over. Ever since, Abbott has given his life to failed institutions.

Read the Editorial from The Saturday Paper - “The ‘No surprises here’ case.”