Tuesday, 21 February 2023

Professor Will Steffen

Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (13:07): At the end of last month we lost one of Australia’s leading climate scientists, Professor Will Steffen. Professor Steffen was hugely inspiring to me and to the whole movement of people fighting for real action on climate change. He was an incredibly accomplished chemist, a groundbreaking climate scientist, an executive director of the Australian National University climate change institute – and I could go on. In fact it is impossible to overstate Will’s impact on science, and any tribute I make to his work can only really scratch the surface of his legacy. But I also want today to focus on the person that he was.

Professor Steffen had that rare combination of an incredibly sharp mind and also a deeply generous and kind soul. He was also courageous. For many years he demonstrated incredible perseverance, studying and communicating the risks of climate change in a very hostile political and media landscape. When the Abbott government shut down the Climate Commission, Will and his colleagues did not accept defeat. Instead they crowdfunded $1 million in a week and founded the Climate Council of Australia, an organisation that endures as a leading independent source of climate advice and communication in Australia. Few people have done more in the fight against climate change than Will, and much of his motivation arose from the concern for future generations. He fought to ensure we have a habitable world, and I would like to send my condolences to his family.