‘Driving force’: Tributes flow for giant of Australian climate science

Tributes have flowed for leading climate change Professor Will Steffen who has died, as many remember not only his contribution to science but also his kindness and optimism.

Steffen, 76, wore many hats, among them emeritus professor at the Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Society. He was also a former executive director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, the inaugural director of the ANU Climate Change Institute and a science adviser to the Australian government.

ANU Professor Will Steffen has been remembered as a leading climate scientist.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The US-born scientist was also an author, contributed to five Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments and special reports between 2000 and 2018, and was a councillor with the Climate Council. But for many he was also a friend and mentor. Professor Tim Flannery, a former climate commissioner and chief councillor at the Climate Council, said he was heartbroken at the loss of Steffen.

“He was the most intelligent, kindest, most gentle person,” Flannery said. “He was a great friend and so loyal. He was so desperately needed right now, he was active right until he couldn’t any more.”

CSIRO climate scientist Pep Canadell said one of the things that made Steffen so impressive was his knowledge of complex sciences and the ability to articulate that to those around him, including policymakers, students and other researchers and scientists.

“He was basically a driving force for thousands of networks globally and helped them to move towards directions that were new to everyone in the 1990s,” Canadell said. “He marked the path for today. His work was his life. He gave everything he had. He worked so hard, he was always available and always ready to contribute.”

Professor Frank Jotzo, director of the Centre for Climate Economics and Policy at the ANU, said he was relatively early in his academic career when he crossed paths with Steffen. “He was a big influence for me in my professional life, as a mentor and as a shining example for how to strive for positive impact in society on the basis of scientific insight.”

Australian journalist and author Marian Wilkinson said Steffen had been vital in sharing his knowledge on climate change, especially in the days of climate denialism in Australia.

“He could speak out where other science voices were nervous about coming forward both because [in] the Howard years they had been pretty much ignored and attacked and that the opposition was very, very vocal against climate science and the media was frankly hysterical at times on the issue,” she said.

Despite the climate denialism, Steffen’s voice cut through the noise and he always found time to explain the science to those around him, Wilkinson said.

When the Abbott government dissolved the Climate Commission in 2013, Steffen and others – including Flannery – went on to found the Climate Council.

At the time, Steffen said: “I think we were the first definitive action of the Abbott government.

“They got rid of us and you could probably measure it in hours rather than days.”

Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie said Steffen helped build the organisation from the ground up, like many other institutions with which he had been involved.

“We will always remember his bravery, his optimism, his kindness, his energy and his determination. We are devastated that he is gone, but determined that his legacy will live on every day in our work,” she said.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said that few around the world could have claimed to have done more to tackle climate change than Steffen.

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