Australia

Lead Tracker – Phillip Ireland

I grew up in Newcastle on the beautiful east coast of Australia (as well as having the best beaches in the world, Newcastle is also the world’s largest coal export port). I am deeply concerned about the impacts of climate change on poor communities around the globe and this has shaped a passion for activism around these issues. My journey has seen me participate in the non-violent blockade of the world’s largest coal export port to meeting with the Prime Minister of Australia to advocate for stronger action on climate change.

I am currently working for the NGO TEAR Australia as the policy and campaigns officer. In this role I work on policy and campaigning around fair trade, bilateral development, the millennium development goals and climate change.

I am also a Ph.D. candidate at Macquarie University, Australia. My research is exploring both the theoretical and practical conceptualisations of adaptation to climate change with the aim to strengthen the voice of the poor in international negotiations and development planning. I am researching with grassroots development organizations in Nepal and Bangladesh to further our understanding of how collective action and community development fit into the broader adaptation narrative.

I am a part of this project because I believe that we must hold our governments to account for fair and effective action on climate change at Copenhagen and beyond.

I’ll be tracking the Climate Negotiations from an Australian perspective on the site www.aclimateforchange.org as well as www.adoptanegotiator.org