Articles by Simon Copland
- Profile
- Simon is a freelance writer and climate campaigner. He worked for and was an active volunteer for the Greens between 2007 – 2012 and recently worked for the climate organisation 350.org. Simon grew up in Canberra and is currently living in Edinburgh.
Economy, Environment, Featured, Green Agenda 2023:3 - Visions & Movements, Virtual Issue
Feet, bikes, busses and trains, not electric cars
Australia faces massive problems with our transport system. We have some of the most spread-out cities in the world, and huge distances between major population hubs as well. We have in turn become a car-dominated society, with public policy focused heavily on building more and more expensive and complicated road infrastructure – just look at the disaster of the Rozelle... Read More
Culture, Democracy, Economy, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2022: Volume Three
Digital overtime
Much of the infrastructure behind the web, in particular social media, is built upon unpaid work. Unwittingly, we have all become workers for social media companies, a practice that is increasing both exploitation and alienation. In giving our free labour to big tech companies, we are becoming more alienated, both from our labour and our own communities. [...]
Democracy, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2022: Volume One
In the anti-political era, the Greens need to be wary of Government
In the years that I was heavily involved in the Greens (around 2007 – 2013 or so), one debate dominated internally: should we be a party of protest or a party of Government? At the time, while there were some stalwarts who were committed to the former option, the latter was really becoming the dominant mode of operating. Particularly, with... Read More
Democracy
Greens and Government: 2022 Volume 1 Edition call for contributions
As an Australian federal election approaches, there’s more talk of Greens in government, so it’s time we discuss what, why and how. What have we achieved so far, and what can we do next? How can we do it differently and better? How can we transform government itself, and how do we risk being changed by it? Please pitch your... Read More
Environment, Featured, Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Spring 2021
Green Agenda Spring 2021: Out the door – Hope in the fossil-fuel induced dark
“Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency. Hope should shove you out the door, because it will take everything you have to steer the future away from endless war, from the annihilation of the earth’s treasures and the grinding... Read More
Environment, Featured, Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Spring 2021
Countering climate doomism – an interview with Ketan Joshi
Ketan Joshi is a writer, analyst, communications consultant and author with a focus on climate change and energy. He worked in the renewable energy industry for about eight years, doing operational monitoring, data analysis, community engagement and corporate communications. He’s also worked in data science and innovation communications at Australia’s national science agency. In this interview Green Agenda co-editor Simon... Read More
Democracy, Featured, Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Winter 2021, Social Justice
Green Agenda Winter 2021: On Dissent
I will never forget the first protest I attended. It was 2002 and George Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard were gearing up to go to war in Iraq. So was the movement of people around the world to oppose the invasion. I was still in high school, but a few friends and I organised to get leave from school... Read More
Culture, Democracy, Featured, Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Winter 2021, Peace, Social Justice, Uncategorised
Too Migrant, Too Muslim, Too Loud: An interview with Mehreen Faruqi
Dr Mehreen Faruqi is the Greens Senator for New South Wales (2018 – present). Green Agenda’s co-editor Simon Copland spoke with Mehreen about her recently published memoir, Too Migrant, Too Muslim, Too Loud, and what it means to be an ‘unapologetically Brown, Muslim, migrant, feminist woman‘ in Australian politics. The transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity. Simon Copland: Thank... Read More
Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Spring 2021
Climate Hope: Spring 2021 Edition call for contributions
The sixth IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Assessment Report has once again sent the message loud and clear: it is imperative that we act on climate change, and that we act now. The report, compiled by hundreds of scientists from around the globe, found that we have already made significant and irreversible change to our climate, and that it... Read More
Featured
On dissent: Winter 2021 Edition call for contributions
We’re calling for contributions for our Winter 2021 edition of Green Agenda: on the work of dissent in politics and policy. Submit your short pitch to contribute to the debate on sustainability, social justice, peace and nonviolence, and democracy. The notion of dissent – an unwillingness to cooperate, to say no, to object – is central to the idea of... Read More
