Understand the Crisis
Our Top Picks
Start here to find the most important information about the crisis and the solutions from some of Australia and the world's leading voices, so you can get familiar with the facts.
The Climate Council is Australia’s leading climate change communications organisation, providing authoritative, expert advice to the Australian public, politicians and many other groups about climate change and its solutions. The Climate Council is entirely independent and plays a lead role gaining climate change media coverage and campaigning for climate action in Australia.
What's on offer: reports, media releases, videos, podcasts, explainers and climate action resources including conversation and letter writing guides, tools to email politicians, petitions and more.
Why we love them: this is the place to find climate information specific to Australia!
Drawdown aims to help the world reach "Drawdown", the point where greenhouse gases in the atmosphere decline. Drawdown has identified the world's top 100 existing solutions which we can utilise to reverse global warming.
What's on offer: All the information can be found in their engrossing book Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming (consider checking your local library for it), but much of the information can also be found on the Drawdown website.
Why we love them: This is a great resource to learn about the big solutions needed to solve the climate crisis!
CarbonBrief is a UK-based website covering the latest developments globally in climate science, climate policy and energy policy. They specialise in clear, data-driven articles and graphics to help improve the understanding of climate change, both in terms of the science and the policy response.
What's on offer: science explainers, interviews, analysis and factchecks, as well as daily and weekly email summaries of newspaper and online climate coverage.
Why we love them: with the slogan 'clear on climate' CarbonBrief does a fantastic job of explaining complex topics and bringing data to life.
Learn about the climate emergency and its solutions
What's the Paris Agreement all about? How much has the world warmed already? What are the best solutions we have to solve the climate crisis? Why aren't politicians taking sufficient action? What does climate change even look like?
If you've been wanting answers to the above questions (and probably more) - it can feel intimidating figuring out where to find them. But you don't need to go it alone - we've got your back!
Below you'll find our favourite sources of reputable climate information. We've included Australian and international organisations, websites, reports, podcasts, documentaries, and more so you can get some clarity around the science, the politics and the solutions.
Learning about the climate and ecological crisis is a journey that at times can feel frustrating and scary and at others incredibly hopeful and inspiring.
Educating ourselves helps us to navigate the climate movement, take effective action and empower those around us. So download a report, grab your earbuds or even turn on the television - because there's no better time than right now to get clear on climate!
THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC)
The IPCC is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. The IPCC was created to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments on climate change, its implications and potential future risks, as well as to put forward adaptation and mitigation options. It is the accepted global authority on climate change.
An IPCC report is an assessment that collects and summarises current knowledge of climate change. It is considered the leading review globally of climate change and is produced by a team of hundreds of scientists and specialists from a diverse range of disciplines.
Whilst the 2018 IPCC Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5 ºC was famously scary, many researchers consider the findings and language of IPCC reports to be conservative (as in, they downplay the full extent of the threat).
IPCC reports are long, dense and can be difficult to understand so consider checking out this explainer by CarbonBrief: How to read the IPCC reports.
Comprehensive scientific Assessment Reports take years to produce and are published every 6 to 7 years; the latest, the Fifth Assessment Report, was completed in 2014, the next, the Sixth Assessment Report, will become available in 2022.
In addition, to these comprehensive Assessment Reports, the IPCC also produces Special Reports, which are an assessment of a specific issue. Recent Special Reports include: Global Warming of 1.5 ºC, Climate Change and Land and the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.
Action Trackers
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report has provided a yearly review of the difference between where greenhouse emissions are predicted to be in 2030 and where they should be to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
What's on offer: one report, once a year.
Why we love it: The report tracks global political progress in tackling the climate crisis showing just how off-track the world is in addressing the emergency and what needs to change.
The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) is an independent scientific analysis that tracks government climate action against the Paris Agreement. Assessing 32 countries covering about 80% of global emissions, CAT tracks: the effect of current policies on emissions; impact of pledges, targets and NDCs; and fair share and comparability of effort.
What's on offer: Profiles and ratings for each country, assessments of international shipping and aviation, emissions gaps, global warming projections, other reports and more.
Climate Change Performance Index
The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) is an independent monitoring tool of countries’ climate protection performance. It aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and enables the comparability of climate protection efforts and progress made by individual countries.
What's on offer: one report, once a year.
What we love the CAT and CCPI: they're a valuable resource to Australians, to call out our federal politicians for lagging behind the world in climate action and policy.
Online Insights
A couple of our favourite webpages pitched for the average citizen.
Grist is an independent American based online publication covering topics like clean energy, sustainable food, livable cities, environmental justice, and a better economy.
The BBC Future's Smart Guide to Climate Change uses scientific research and data to break down the most effective strategies each of us can take to shrink our carbon footprint.
Documentaries
Must Watch Aussie Docos
2040 (2019) - explores what the future could look like by the year 2040 if we simply embraced the best solutions already available to us to improve our planet.
Fight for Planet A: Our Climate Challenge (2020) - in this three-part documentary by ABC, Craig Reucassel explores how we can all reduce our individual and collective carbon emissions.
International
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (2017) - Al Gore's documentary captures the human toll of extreme weather driven by climate change.
The Story of Plastic (2019) - a detailed look into the environmental damage and human rights abuses, at the hands of fossil fuel companies, that occur throughout the lifecycle of plastic.
Blue (2017) - a provocative journey witnessing this critical moment when the marine world is on a precipice.
Kiss the Ground (2020) - Activists, scientists, farmers and politicians turn to regenerative agriculture to save the planet's topsoil and to help tackle the climate crisis.
Inspiring Activists
The Reluctant Radical (2018) - After twenty years leading environmental organizations activist Ken Ward turns to breaking the law as he battles the fossil fuel industry.
I am Greta (2020) - an intimate documentary about teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg.
The Troublemaker (2020) - through the stories of 2 activist, this documentary delves into the ideas and emotions behind climate protest.
David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet (2020) - David Attenborough's first-hand account and witness statement of the monumental scale of humanity's impact on nature.
Podcasts
A selection of some of our favourite climate podcasts (and recordings). Great for a train ride or even a bushwalk!
Australian
The Sustainable Hour - weekly episodes from Geelong with lots of guest speakers. It's one of Australia's leading programs focusing on the climate emergency and solutions.
The Guardian Full Story - Guardian journalists investigate the background behind the news in Australia and beyond. Not a climate specific podcast but many episodes have deep-dived into Australian and global climate and environmental stories.
National Climate Emergency Summit 2020 - talks given by researchers, activists, first responders, politicians, professionals and many more, recorded at the live event.
Hot Mess by ABC Radio National - 4 episodes that delve into the politics, psychology and science of climate change.
Global
TED Talks Daily - Find fascinating talks about the climate and environment, from some of the world's most inspiring and expert voices.
Costing the Earth (by the BBC) - fresh ideas from the sharpest minds working toward a cleaner, greener planet.
Mothers Of Invention - a podcast on feminist climate change solutions from (mostly) women around the world.
A little bit American
A Matter of Degrees & How to Save a Planet - both explore how to tackle the climate crisis.
Drilled - A true-crime podcast about climate change and the fossil fuel industry’s insidious role.
Inherited - a podcast by and about the youth climate movement.
Temperature Check - a podcast by Grist about the overlap between the climate crisis, social justice and culture.
For even more podcasts check out this list by The Centre for Climate Safety.
Books
International
The Future We Choose: the Stubborn Optimist's Guide to the Climate Crisis, by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac (instrumental leaders of the Paris agreement), challenges us to choose between two possible scenarios for our planet with hope and determination.
The Uninhabitable Earth: a Story of the Future, by David Wallace-Wells, is a confronting book that explores some of the most frightening possible realities of climate change like famine, economic collapse and lethal heat.
Australian
The Climate Cure: Solving the Climate Emergency in the Era of Covid-19, by Tim Flannery, flips the climate debate on its head, and exposes who is left standing in the way of action in Australia.
Sunburnt Country: The History and Future of Climate Change in Australia, by Joëlle Gergis, answers the question - what did the climate look like in Australia's past and how is it changing as a result of global heating?
Superpower: Australia's Low-Carbon Opportunity, by Ross Garnaut, offers a road map for progress and decarbonisation, covering energy, transport, agriculture, the international scene and more.
Climate Change and the Outdoors
Learn more about the effect climate impacts are having on our favourite outdoor places in Australia and our ability to enjoy them here.
The Mountain Journal is an online publication covering the environment, news, culture from the Australian Alps.
Climate Council Reports
Game, Set, Match: Calling Time on Climate Inaction (2021) describes how climate change is affecting sport, including surfing and cycling, in Australia and how sport can also be a powerful force for change.
Icons at Risk: Climate Change Threatening Australian Tourism (2018) an essential read if you work in outdoor tourism.
Climate Action Meets Adventure
If you love adventure flicks check out these epic documentaries that have paired outdoor pursuits and climate action!
Chasing Coral (2017) - Divers, photographers and scientists set out on an ocean adventure to reveal our disappearing reefs to the world.
Chasing Ice (2012) - The challenging, multi-year Extreme Ice Survey that chronicled of the planet's rapidly melting glaciers.