YH Mates: Surfers for Climate
As brewers, we feel a bit of a responsibility to ensure our planet can continue to produce all the great ingredients we use to make our beers. Our commitment to improving our environmental impact not only informs how we do business, but also finds us frequently working with folks outside the beer world striving for the same thing. Surfers for Climate are one of the crews we’ve been lucky to link up with on many occasions based on shared ideals - not just regarding post-surf beers, but the desire to protect and preserve the natural resources we love.
If you’re an Aussie ocean-lover, chances are you’ve come across Surfers for Climate. Known for their campaigning efforts to drive awareness and policy change around issues relating to climate change and the health of our oceans, they’ve built a highly engaged community of advocates across the land.
For those who aren’t too familiar, we sat down with the group’s CEO/ certified legend Josh Kirkman over a beer for a yarn about Surfers for Climate, their mission, and how folks can get involved.
(L-R Josh Kirkman, Penny Sharpe & SFC co-founder Belinda Baggs)
A former professional bodyboarder and Comms specialist from the mid north coast of NSW, Josh (above left) came to be involved with the group’s founders during the successful ‘Fight for the Bight’ campaign that saw surfers from across the globe unite against Norwegian Oil Company Equinor’s proposed drilling off the coast of South Australia. Josh was the unofficial ‘Aussie on the ground’ on Equinor’s home turf, playing an important role in driving awareness and action within European surfing communities. Fast forward a few years and Josh came on board as Surfers for Climate’s first CEO. Read our yarn below!
YH: G’day Josh, can you give us a little history lesson on Surfers for Climate? How did it all come about?
JK: Surfers for Climate was formed by surfers Belinda Baggs and Johnny Abegg after he Fight for the Bight campaign. They connected the dots between the campaign (oil spill pollution risk to coastal communities) and the broader issue of climate change (what oil and gas contribute too if we keep on burning the stuff, cooking the ocean in the process). After the Fight for the Bight, there were still numerous other patches of ocean at risk from oil and gas drilling around Australia, so Surfers for Climate was formed to bridge that gap in knowledge and get coastal communities into climate action!
Josh whipping into one at his home break in Forster.
YH: What would you say are the main goals of the group?
JK: Our overarching campaign to ‘draw a line in the sand for our ocean’; comprises of three pillars:
See a nationwide ban on new offshore oil and gas in Australian waters by 2028
See coastal communities understand and ride the groundswell of renewable energy opportunity in Australia
See more and stronger marine protected areas in Australia so that biodiversity can thrive
These 3 goals combined lead to a thriving and healthy ocean for generations to come.
YH: What have been some of the key milestones to date?
JK: The greatest milestone to date started last year on World Oceans Day (June 8) and culminated in legislation to ban offshore sea mining in NSW waters earlier this year. For a number of years, PEP11, an oil and gas drilling proposal off the coast of NSW, had been concerning coastal communities as well as being used as a political football by politicians. Numerous grassroots orgs had been campaigning against PEP-11 for a number of years too. Federally, there had been a stall in progress towards a resolution on the issue of PEP11 from the major parties, while Independents such as Zali Stegall had been continuing to keep the issue on the agenda, even introducing Private Members’ Bills to Federal Parliament in the hope of making positive change.
At the NSW State Government level, the Liberal/National Coalition had a policy against offshore sea mining, and Labor in Opposition did not support PEP 11 either. During the election campaign, there was a strong push from Independent candidates to see legislation come into the NSW Parliament that would ban offshore sea mining in coastal waters and prohibit infrastructure passing through state waters to support oil and gas exploration and drilling further off the coast in Commonwealth Waters. The election happened in 2023, the government changed, but ambition was still lacking when it came to addressing the issue.
Surfers for Climate engaged the Liberal and National Party in Opposition and discussed bringing up the legislation to ban offshore sea mining, and activating the Surfers for Climate community to back the proposal if it was introduced. The Opposition introduced the legislation, which was then sent through a parliamentary process that we took part in. Over the summer holiday break, the Labor Government created alternative legislation with the same purpose and introduced this bill, which was passed easily with bipartisan support from the vast majority of politicians in the NSW Parliament.
The passing of the legislation is historic - NSW is the first state in the country to pass such strong legislation against offshore oil and gas. We’re stoked that it is legislation that has passed with the support of a vast majority of politicians in the Parliament, particularly the major parties, as it means that it is here for good, and that it is also an example to other states what is possible.
Possibly our fave slogan!
YH: What does the Surfers for Climate community look like and where are they?
JK: Surfers for Climate looks like everyone in surfing. All types of waveriders and ocean lovers comprise our community, shortboard, longboard, bodyboard, no board at all! We value diversity as a strength and pride ourselves on making Surfers for Climate representative of all waveriders.
We’ve been strongest in our advocacy and membership growth in the classic locations for wave riding such as Torquay, Noosa, Byron Bay, Manly and the Northern Beaches of Sydney. As we grow though, we hope to expand our reach to many other great locations, particularly in states that have not yet legislated strong policy against offshore oil and gas drilling like NSW.
YH: How do you go about engaging people and building the community?
JK: Like all startups, in the beginning there was a lot of experimentation around what would work best in terms of educating and engaging surfing communities on climate, recognising that historically, the debate around climate was quite partisan politically, with communities being split on the issue. One of the biggest drivers for me in leading the org at the beginning was to figure out ways that we could get the message across, educate coastal communities, drive membership of the org, and make sure the bank account didn’t run dry. It was also important to me that Surfers for Climate had a broad and inclusive approach to waveriders.
We’ve built a bit of a framework called the ‘party wave of action’ with ‘take-off points’ on this wave for everyone. These are the ‘take-offs’ today:
Salty Brains Trivia - we hold ocean-themed trivia nights in pubs that educate people on climate and ocean health in a fun and engaging way. Pubs are a pretty diverse space, filled with progressive, and conservative people, all enjoying the space any day of the week. Trivia is a normal practice within the pub environment, so delivering our own version of that, with our message and advocacy intention woven within it, was a way to let people take-off into action with us through an everyday medium. We’ve delivered close to 60 trivia nights over the past couple of years, and we are always keen to work with local community groups and boardriders’ clubs to deliver them.
Carpark Cinema is the name of our community film nights and panel discussions. We basically set up a big screen (we own one) and screen surf films and original surf/environmental films in local communities. We integrate panel discussions into these evenings with politicians and experts, sharing knowledge on the climate-related issue of the moment. We’ve delivered close to 30 such movie nights, and produced our own original film for these events too. We made a film called Great Ocean Love, which is a journey of saltwater women along the Great Ocean Road (shortboarder, bodyboarder and longboarder) sharing the First Nations perspective on Sea Country care and protection, which has won numerous awards in film festivals and will be digitally released this year. We also collaborated on a film with Gary McNeill and Dave Rastovich called The Seed, which discusses the versatility and environmental value of flax fibre surfboards.
We have a PhD program called Wavechanger with Griffith University, which is researching the history of the surf industry and hardware development and exploring ways that surfing can reduce its impact on the environment. This PhD is supported by funding from Polestar Electric Vehicles and is a critical piece of the puzzle for Surfers for Climate, as it helps us get surfers past their own ideas of hypocrisy when it comes to the environment, and taking action to protect it. Anecdotally, surfers seem to get tied up in knots about the fact that the products they use are derived from petrochemicals (oil), so when it comes to stopping new oil and gas in our ocean, they don’t feel like they’re permitted to speak on the issue. The Wavechanger program is there to share with them the sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel derived products, and unlock them into action on the bigger issues.
Finally, our Trade Up program engages the huge number of surf tradies in Australia on climate action. Two thirds of tradies surf at least once a week, and these very same tradies are at the frontlines of delivering the solutions to the climate challenge. Insulating and electrifying the home; working in large-scale renewables; choosing better building materials with less embodied carbon in them - these are all actions that tradies can take that helps Australia embrace the opportunities of addressing climate change and reducing our emissions.
Carpark Cinema is an epic way to learn, chat and sip a few tins with fellow ocean lovers. Image: Jarrah Lynch
YH: What does the next major milestone look like?
JK: Our Line in the Sand campaign is clear, and will be our focus moving forward - we want to get other states around Australia to ban new offshore oil and gas exploration, help coastal communities ride the groundswell of renewables and specifically, help them combat misinformation circulating about offshore wind farms, and also see stronger marine protected areas in Australia.
We are optimistic that we can get two more states to move bans on offshore oil and gas like NSW in the next year, and will be working hard on this outcome. We’ll also be working with coastal communities and stakeholders to address misinformation and disinformation around offshore wind farms in Australia. We see this work in educating and engaging communities with the facts and opportunities behind such projects if we are to see regional areas benefit from the shift to renewables, in terms of jobs and growth, as well as positive environmental impact.
In the coming financial year, we are going to be focusing intently on engaging coastal tradies so that they are brought into the narrative of positive change in Australia. Tradies are the backbone of the economy, and they are also the brains and brawn that will do the hard work of building the future we want in Australia. We’re stoked to be building the educational resources and experiences that will inspire them into action for climate.
YH: What do you need to help boost these efforts? How can punters get involved?
JK: Right now, the overwhelming majority of philanthropic giving in Australia is directed towards everything other than environmental charities like Surfers for Climate. If we aren’t prioritising funding towards the charities that can make a difference for the planet, then we aren’t going to get it done.
Surfers for Climate is growing and increasing its impact. Our growth and impact is because there are increasingly more surfers and coastal people interested in getting involved in our work and advocacy, and there are organisations and philanthropists who want to fund that work.
If Surfers for Climate can secure more funding support, whether that be through memberships (you can become a member here), business supporters/partners, through grants, or other philanthropic support, we can scale up our impact fast.
Anyone reading this who wants to jump on the party wave of climate action and make positive change happen for the ocean, get in touch! There are also volunteering opportunities with us as well.
Cheers Josh!
If you’re keen to learn more about Surfers for Climate and how you can get involved, click here to head over to their website and give them a follow on IG to keep up with all their epic events and activations.