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Bula COP31!
Bula COP31 is a podcast for anyone wanting to understand what it means for Australia and the Türkiye to co-host COP31 in 2026, and why this moment is influential in the UNFCCC process. Australia will be putting the Pacific Islands at the forefront of the climate negotiations to ensure adaptation and infrastructure investments flow to the region.
Your hosts are Heidi Dumesich and Jack Whelan.
Jack is a proud boomer who started his sustainability career long before it was considered ‘cool’. His experience spans the earliest COPs and reaches across business, industry, government, development agencies, NGOs, and the UN. He’s worked with the International Chamber of Commerce and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development; and across Asia-Pacific with the Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility, Asian Development Bank, and World Bank. Jack was nominated by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the design team that established the IRIS initiative, supporting climate- and disaster-resilient infrastructure in Small Island Developing States — work that sits at the heart of Pacific climate priorities.
Heidi Dumesich is a millennial environmental scientist focused on implementing practical solutions. She’s the seasoned podcaster behind Life on Planet A, and currently a Sustainability Manager at Ventia, leading an Infrastructure Sustainability Council rating for a major road project. Heidi brings a fresh, grounded perspective on climate action and how sustainability plays out across communities and sectors.
Bula COP31 explores what really happens behind the scenes of a COP — with a special focus on how Pacific leadership, values, and voices shape the global climate agenda. Through candid conversations with stakeholders across Pacific governments, Australian agencies, industry, civil society, youth, and community groups, we unpack how climate diplomacy in our region is driven by relationships, resilience, and shared responsibility.
Whether you're a policymaker, business leader, activist, Pacific climate champion, or simply COP-curious, this podcast is your guide to getting the most out of COP31 — and understanding how it can deliver for the Blue Pacific Continent.
Tune in, get engaged, and say Bula COP31!
Bula COP31!
Episode 'S' for Samoa - Electrification target of 35% - Realistic or Aspiration for Australia?
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Can Australia hit net zero without a clear plan to get there? In this episode of Bula COP31, we sit down with energy transition expert Jonathan Jutsen to unpack what it will really take to electrify Australia's economy by 2035.
Jon has spent decades working at the intersection of energy policy and business, and he doesn't pull punches: Australia's energy transition remains deeply politicised, market forces (not policy) are currently driving renewables adoption, and without a detailed, bottom-up operational plan, the 35% electrification target risks becoming another missed milestone.
We cover what's genuinely improved in renewable uptake, why bipartisanship has been so hard to find, sector-by-sector realities of electrification, lessons Australia could take from Norway, and the case for microgrids and local energy solutions as the grid strains to keep up. We also touch on the future of biofuels and renewable diesel for the hard-to-abate sectors electrification can't easily reach.
This episode also pays tribute to Fiona Wain, remembered as a high-energy voice who was never short of an opinion — and whose impact on the sector's thinking runs through much of this conversation.
👤 Guest: Jonathan Jutsen
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