WOMADelaide reveals 2020 Planet Talks program

Walkey-winning journalist Jan Fran and former UN Secretary for Climate Christiana Figueres will head up WOMADelaide’s annual Planet Talks program in 2020.

5 December 2019 by Walter Marsh

The climate emergency will be at the top of the WOMADelaide agenda in 2020 with the addition of Christiana Figueres, the former UN diplomat who played a leading role in the 2015 Climate Change agreement.

While the global effort to cut carbon emissions continues to be a bumpy road as certain leadership changes at home and overseas have thrown many of the Paris agreement’s principles to the wind, Figueres will undoubtedly bring with her some interesting insights from the highest levels of the climate action movement.

Elsewhere in the program, Adelaide Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor will join documentarian Damon Gameau, earth system scientist Will Steffen and biodiversity law scholar Michelle Lim to explore how our cities and societies will navigate the wide-reaching changes necessary to avert and respond to a changing climate.

The generation who will feel its effects most keenly have also been invited to the table, with Australian Student Strike for Climate organisers Doha Khan, Harriet O’shea Carre and Milou Albrecht set to appear.

Walter Marsh
Doha Khan (centre right) leads Adelaide Climate Strike demonstrators in September

Fresh from winning a Walkey Award, journalist and former presenter of SBS’ The Feed Jan Fran will deliver the festival’s annual International Women’s Day address. The former foreign correspondent turned youth news commentator has gained wide acclaim in recent years for her viral videos – dubbed ‘Frants’ – that see her condense and cut through contemporary news issues. The series earned Fran a Walkley for commentary, analysis and critique category just last week.

Fran’s former The Feed co-host Marc Fennell will also appear at Planet Talks, hosting a discussion on how personal data and algorithms have shaped our present and future. Fennell has long been an insightful commentator on the ever-changing world of technology and society across various platforms including Radio National’s Download This Show podcast. He’ll be joined by artificial intelligence expert Dr Robert Elliot Smith, technology law expert Julia Powles and Webtopia author Peter Lewis.

ABC Radio National’s The Party Room podcast will also return to WOMADelaide in 2020 with Fran Kelly and Patricia Karvelas, along with Motel, comedian Tim Ross’ nostalgic tribute to the Australian holiday.