A conversation between business sustainability advisor Sam Mostyn and moral philosopher Peter Singer, moderated by Ann Mossop. Sam and Peter discuss the role of business in sustainability and climate action, the discrepancies between our values and monetary donations for global aid, and the ethics of responsibility we have toward the generation of humans who don’t yet exist. They touch on how the pandemic has highlighted gender and class divisions, along with the significance of community and care.

Delve even deeper into the themes discussed in this episode:

Daisy Jeffrey, Audrey Mason-Hyde, Dylan Storer: Stolen Inheritance (FODI Digital 2020)
Matt Beard, Eleanor Gordon-Smith, Bryan Mukandi: Ethics of the Pandemic (FODI Digital 2020)
No justice, no peace in healing Trump’s America
Dangerous ideas and pseudonyms
World Economic Forum: Global Gender Gap Report 2021

Download transcript here.

I think Australia missed a moment to be a leader in climate response. We are the petri dish of the impacts of climate change.

Sam Mostyn

@sammostyn

Clearly, we missed the opportunity to distribute the vaccines against COVID 19 in an equitable way.

Peter Singer

@PeterSinger

Sam Mostyn

Sam Mostyn is a businesswoman and sustainability adviser, with a long history of executive and governance roles across business, sport, climate change, the arts, policy, and NFP sectors. She is the current President of Chief Executive Women, chairs Citi Australia and serves on the Mirvac board, alongside a broad portfolio of other roles including chairing Ausfilm, The Climate Council and the Centre for Policy Development. Sam was awarded the Order of Australia in 2021 for distinguished service to business and sustainability, and to the community, through seminal contributions to a range of organisations, and to women.

Peter Singer

Peter Singer is an Australian moral philosopher, best known for his work on Animal Liberation and writings about global poverty. After teaching in England, the United States and Australia, he has, since 1999, been Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. In 2021 he was awarded the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture. Singer has written, co-authored, edited or co-edited more than 50 books and in 2012, was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. Since 2021, he has been a founding co-editor of the Journal of Controversial Ideas.

We hear the recorded sound of the invisible electromagnetic landscape that humans created unintentionally, allowing us to tune in to what our environment has to endure. Against a backdrop, we hear the voices of anonymous FODI listeners, recording their hopes and fears for the future of humanity, and a poem by Sylvie Barber and Simon Longstaff. Anthropocene is a response to Sam Mostyn and Peter Singer’s discussion.

Sam Mostyn & Peter Singer - We have failed to protect those who don’t yet exist

Sam Mostyn

Peter Singer

Bonus Material

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