Former Greens leader Adam Bandt has landed a gig that couldn’t be better designed for him – as chief executive of the Australian Conservation Foundation. Starting January 2026, Bandt will take over from Kelly O’Shanassy, who has led the organisation for 11 years.
O’Shanassy had flagged that she would step down from the role earlier in June, saying “unlike solar and wind, CEO energy is not renewable, and it’s time for a break.”
The foundation board chair, Ros Harvey, said Bandt’s appointment was “unanimously supported” as the “right person to lead ACF to its next chapter.”
Harvey said the board had screened more than 300 candidates, including those from many countries. Ultimately, Bandt had “the vision, the bravery and the experience” to tackle the “challenging years ahead as Australia grapples with devastating climate change and accelerating nature destruction.
“Hard times require bold leadership.”
Bandt further added that “this could be the best parliament ever for nature and climate” and that he and the organisation will set politicians “a test we hope they meet.”
The organisation said that Bandt will play no further role in the Greens.
The great timber debate continues
The latest volley in the debate between the conservationists and the timber supporters comes after the NSW government declared the Great Koala National Park would be declared in about 12 months. It will comprise around 476,000 hectares on the NSW Mid North Coast. The state government said it would also invest $140 million, with $60 million of that total to go towards funding the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.
It is also offering support packages for the six timber mills in the region, which is expected to impact between 200 and 300 jobs.
The announcement was a nail in the coffin of timber harvesting, with an immediate moratorium effected.
Timber Queensland reacted by coming out swinging against the decision, arguing it has evidence that “sustainable timber harvesting” creates “long term carbon benefits by substituting steel and concrete”, which it argues stores carbon in products.
The organisation was quick to rally the Queensland and Tasmanian governments to its cause, saying both “reject this method at a state level.”
Meanwhile, conservation groups such as the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Forum, the Nature Conservation Council, the Wilderness Society and Outdoors NSW & ACT have voiced their support by joining the NSW government in an official statement.
What we’re reading
Even though Trump is wreaking havoc on the climate fight and intimidating corporate far and wide, Walmart has some good news and bad news, according to Trellis.
The bad news is that the company, known as the world’s largest retailer, won’t meet its 2025 goal of cutting carbon footprint from its retail operations by 35 per cent and likely won’t meet its 65 per cent reduction pledge by 2030. On top of this, the company logged a 1.1 per cent year-over-year increase in 2024 for both Scope 1 and 2 emissions, going up to 15.7 million metric tons of greenhouse gases.
But the company’s chief sustainability officer and vice president Kathleen McLaughlin said she was “optimistic” that the company had cumulatively reduced its carbon footprint by 18.1 per cent since 2015 – which is “a significant cut” from where it started.
She said longer-term goals require partnerships, and different groups have different views on how to achieve outcomes. The company said it has cut down on “emissions intensity” – which is the ratio of operational emissions per million dollars of revenue- by 47.4 per cent over the past 10 years, despite revenue roughly growing 40 per cent. Read more here.
Inhabit opens Adelaide office
Hong Kong based design firm Inhabit is opening a new Adelaide office to strengthen its presence in Australia, which it says will also extend its expertise in façades and sustainable design to its clients in South Australia.
The new office will be led by façade design manager Michael Canlas, who is currently based in Melbourne. Prior to his current position, Canlas was a senior façade consultant and assistant department head for the Singaporean engineering conglomerate, Meinhardt Group, while based in Manila.
The firm is further owned by a parent company, French engineering firm Egis Group.