Tim Flannery believes the biggest challenge of the 21st century is to create sustainability for the human race. That's par for an environmentalist, and the consensus of a majority of scientists. But the quest is no small task given the resistance and denial in many circles, including among power players in the realms of politics and business.

Yet Flannery, the world-renowned conservationist and scientist, seems oddly optimistic about that challenge. The acclaimed author of The Weather Makers knows well that time is running out. But he believes we will take the steps necessary to save the planet – if not for altruistic reasons then maybe for economic ones – and ultimately create a new kind of society.


"If we fail, all of our species' great triumphs, all of our efforts, will have been for naught," he writes in his latest book Now or Never. "And perhaps the last 4 billion years will have been for naught as well."

...When I was a young man, very wealthy men, CEOs, would smoke cigars, eat meat pies and wouldn't exercise, and then everyone would be surprised when they dropped dead at 60. That has changed now. Over those 20 years our culture has changed.

Climate change is a bit like that. We don't perceive the factors that will lead to severe problems with us. They're hidden from us. You have to have a sophisticated sense of the earth to understand climate change, just like you have to have a sophisticated sense of the body. We're just emerging from a culture of business that was potentially destructive.

I had a conversation with Sir Richard Branson (about this). He said it used to be the case if you looked after your employees and made a profit then you had a good business. His comment was that (this model) actually describes a criminal syndicate but it doesn't describe modern business. Modern business has to be rooted in ethics – ethics of our society and our environment. Modern business is so powerful that unless they're rooted in those they become destructive.