Tim Flannery

Timothy Fridtjof Flannery was born on 28 January 1956 in Melbourne, Victoria.{{cite web |last=Hayes |first=David C. |title=Tim Flannery, Australian zoologist |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=19 October 2024 |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tim-Flannery |access-date=16 November 2024}}{{cite web |title=Flannery, Tim 1956- (Timothy Fridtjof Flannery) |website=Encyclopedia.com |date=28 January 1956 |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/flannery-tim-1956-timothy-fridtjof-flannery |access-date=16 November 2024}} He was raised in a Catholic family along with his two sisters in the Melbourne suburb of Sandringham, close to Port Phillip Bay.{{Cite web |last=Munro |first=Peter |date=2010-09-25 |title=Anatomy of hope |url=https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/anatomy-of-hope-20100925-15rog.html |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=The Age |language=en}} He described himself as a "solitary" child, spending time looking for fossils and learning to fish and scuba dive. He said he first became aware of marine pollution and its effects on living organisms during this period.{{cite web |url=https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2015/november/1446296400/tim-flannery/power-place |title= The Power of Place|periodical=The Monthly|last1= Flannery |first1= Tim |date= November 2015|publisher= Black Inc |access-date= 30 December 2015}} He attended Catholic school, and later said that he did not enjoy it and became an atheist. He was expelled in year 12 for suggesting a prominent abortion activist be invited to speak to counter the anti-abortionist views at the school, but was later allowed to return after an intervention from his father.

After failing to achieve the required school marks to study science, Flannery first studied English literature at La Trobe University, graduating in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts.[http://www.latrobe.edu.au/alumni/profiles/full-profile?mode=results&queries_given-name_query=Tim&queries_family-name_query=Flannery Alumni profile search result, La Trobe University] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627122339/http://www.latrobe.edu.au/alumni/profiles/full-profile?mode=results&queries_given-name_query=Tim&queries_family-name_query=Flannery |date=27 June 2012 }} After being impressed by Flannery's knowledge of natural history, palaeontologist Tom Rich and his wife encouraged him to pursue the subject.Dapin, M. (2014). [https://www.smh.com.au/national/tim-flannery-a-man-for-all-climates-20140207-3271c.html Tim Flannery: a man for all climates.] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at: [Accessed 13 March 2019]. After doing some postgraduate studies in geology, while tutoring at the School of Earth Sciences at Monash University,{{cite web |title=Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation |publisher=Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation |url=https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001429b.htm |access-date=16 November 2024}} he changed focus to zoology and paleontology, earning a Master of Science (MSc) from Monash in 1981.

In 1984 or 1985, after also tutoring in zoology at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of New South Wales for three years, he earned his PhD from UNSW Sydney.

He then left Melbourne for Sydney, enjoying its subtropical climate and species diversity.Introduction, The Birth of Melbourne, {{ISBN|1-877008-89-3}} In 1984, Flannery earned a PhD at the University of New South Wales in Palaeontology for his work on the evolution and fossils of macropods under palaeontologist Mike Archer.

In 1984 Flannery was appointed principal research scientist and head of the Department of Mammalogy at the Australian Museum. He then undertook his first trips to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and elsewhere, later becoming mammal curator at the museum. He took 15 trips in total to New Guinea (both Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya) starting in 1981 and into the 1990s, working closely with local tribes to undertake fieldwork, which he later recounted in Throwin Way Leg (1998). A tapeworm he sent to a parasitologist following one trip was revealed to be a new species, and was later named Burtiela flanneryi after him. During this time he also worked to save the bandicoot population on North Heads.

From 1997 until 2001 he was also conjoint professor in Faculty of Science and Mathematics at the University of Newcastle, NSW. In 1998 to 1999 he was a visiting professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, as well as chair of Australian studies at Harvard University.{{cite web |url=http://www.theweathermakers.org/about |title=About Tim Flannery |publisher=The Weather Makers |access-date=13 March 2019}} He left the post at the Australian Museum in 1999.

File:OIC adelaide sa museum.jpg for 7 years.]]

From 1999 until 2006 he was a professor at the University of Adelaide, at the same time serving as director of the South Australian Museum in Adelaide, South Australia.

In 2007, Flannery became professor in the Climate Risk Concentration of Research Excellence at Macquarie University. He held the Panasonic Chair in Environmental Sustainability.Macquarie University (2013). "[http://web.science.mq.edu.au/for/business_and_community/panasonic-chair/ PanasonicChair] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130712122647/http://web.science.mq.edu.au/for/business_and_community/panasonic-chair/|date=12 July 2013}}". Retrieved 23 June 2013. He left Macquarie University in mid-2013.{{Cite web |date=2015-06-05 |title=Australian native mammals to be reintroduced to NSW after 100 years |url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/05/australian-mammals-to-be-reintroduced-to-new-south-wales-after-100-years |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} He has contributed to over 143 scientific papers.{{Cite web|title=2017: Professor Tim Flannery recognised for contribution to science, conservation – University of Wollongong – UOW|url=https://www.uow.edu.au/media/2017/professor-tim-flannery-recognised-for-contribution-to-science-conservation.php|access-date=2021-01-20|website=uow.edu.au|language=en}}

{{as of|November 2024}} Flannery is a professor at theMelbourne Sustainable Society Institute at the University of Melbourne.{{Cite web |title=Prof. Tim Flannery |url=https://www.climatecollege.unimelb.edu.au/speaker/prof-tim-flannery |access-date=2023-01-28 |website=University of Melbourne}}

In 2021 he was a visiting lecturer at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland,{{cite web| title=TIM FLANNERY – VISITING LECTURER, INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAMMES| url=https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/academic-departments/faculty/tim-flannery| access-date=14 October 2020| archive-date=25 July 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725050418/https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/academic-departments/faculty/tim-flannery| url-status=dead}} as the Fondation Segré Distinguished Visiting Professor.{{Cite web |title=Tim FLANNERY {{!}} IHEID |url=https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/discover-institute/tim-flannery |access-date=2023-12-03 |website= Graduate Institute}}

In 1980, Flannery discovered an Allosaurid dinosaur fossil on the southern coast of Victoria, the first from the family known from Australia.{{Cite journal |last1=Molnar |first1=R.E. |last2=Flannery |first2=Timothy F. |last3=Rich |first3=Thomas H.V. |date=1981-01-01 |title=An allosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Victoria, Australia |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/03115518108565427 |journal=Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=141–146 |doi=10.1080/03115518108565427 |bibcode=1981Alch....5..141M |issn=0311-5518|url-access=subscription }} In 1985, he had a role in the ground-breaking discovery of Cretaceous fossil monotreme Steropodon, the first Mesozoic mammal fossil discovered in Australia.{{Cite journal |last1=Archer |first1=Michael |last2=Flannery |first2=Timothy F. |last3=Ritchie |first3=Alex |last4=Molnar |first4=R. E. |date=November 1985 |title=First Mesozoic mammal from Australia—an early Cretaceous monotreme |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/318363a0 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=318 |issue=6044 |pages=363–366 |doi=10.1038/318363a0 |bibcode=1985Natur.318..363A |s2cid=4342084 |issn=1476-4687|url-access=subscription }} This find extended the Australian mammal fossil record back 80 million years. During the 1980s, Flannery described most of the known Pleistocene megafaunal species in New Guinea as well as the fossil record of the phalangerids, a family of possums.{{cite web |year=1998 |title=The Future Eaters: About Tim Flannery |url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/future/abouttim.htm |access-date=10 April 2007 |publisher=ABC Television}} As part of his doctoral studies, he reviewed the evolution of Macropodidae and described 29 new fossil species, including 11 new genera and three new subfamilies.

File:Dendrolagus mbaiso.jpg, a tree kangaroo species first described by Flannery]]

Through the 1990s, Flannery surveyed the mammals of Melanesia—identifying more than 30 species—and took a leading role in conservation efforts in the region. He also identified at least 17 previously undescribed species{{cite web| title=Interview: Tim Flannery, National Geographic| date=11 July 2011 |via = YouTube| url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sS_aUYAgEA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/-sS_aUYAgEA |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}} during his 15 trips, includes the Dingiso,{{Cite web |date=2011-03-14 |title=Tim Flannery: A life in books |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/mar/14/tim-flannery-here-on-earth |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} Sir David's long-beaked echidna,{{Cite journal |last1=Flannery |first1=T. F. |last2=Groves |first2=C. P. |date=1998-01-01 |title=A revision of the genus Zaglossus (Monotremata, Tachyglossidae), with description of new species and subspecies |journal=Mammalia |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/mamm.1998.62.3.367/html |language=en |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=367–396 |doi=10.1515/mamm.1998.62.3.367 |s2cid=84750399 |issn=1864-1547|url-access=subscription }} and the Telefomin cuscus.{{Cite journal |last=Flannery |first=Tim |date=1987 |title=A new species of Phalanger (Phalangeridae: Marsupialia) from montane western Papua New Guinea. |url=https://media.australian.museum/media/Uploads/Journals/17678/169.pdf |journal=Records of the Australian Museum |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=183–193|doi=10.3853/j.0067-1975.39.1987.169 }} and several tree kangaroos.{{cite web| title=Tree Kangaroo from New Guinea, Australian Museum| url= https://australianmuseum.net.au/mammology-collection-tree-kangaroo-from-new-guinea}} He also found living specimens of the Bulmer's fruit bat, which were previously thought extinct.{{Cite web |title=There Goes the Neighborhood |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/99/03/07/reviews/990307.07bruc.html |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=archive.nytimes.com}} In the 1990s, Flannery published The Mammals of New Guinea (Cornell Press) and Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea (Johns Hopkins Press), the most comprehensive reference works on the subjects.

The specific name of the greater monkey-faced bat (Pteralopex flanneryi), described in 2005, honours Flannery.Helgen, K. M. (2005). "Systematics of the Pacific monkey-faced bats (Chiroptera : Pteropodidae), with a new species of Pteraloplex and a new Fijian genus". Systematics and Biodiversity, 3(4): 433–453.

Flannery's work prompted Sir David Attenborough to describe him as being "in the league of the all-time great explorers like Dr David Livingstone".{{cite web |title=Penguin UK Authors: About Tim Flannery |url=http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,0_1000056817,00.html?sym=BIO |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930155226/http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,0_1000056817,00.html?sym=BIO |archive-date=30 September 2007 |access-date=10 April 2007 |publisher=Penguin Books}}

In 2022, Flannery was a co-author on new research on the origins of monotremes.{{Cite web |date=2022-03-26 |title=Australian scientists solve mystery of moment monotremes migrated |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/mar/27/australian-scientists-solve-mystery-of-moment-monotremes-migrated |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}

In the 1990s, Flannery observed a change in the elevational range of trees while doing fieldwork in New Guinea, and realised it was likely to be a climate change impact. He subsequently began working on climate change more seriously{{Cite journal |last1=Schiermeier |first1=Quirin |last2=Thompson |first2=Tosin |last3=Tollefson |first3=Jeff |date=2021-11-16 |title=COP26: Meet the scientists behind the crucial climate summit |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03029-w |journal=Nature |language=en |doi=10.1038/d41586-021-03029-w|pmid=34750544 |s2cid=243862819 |url-access=subscription }} and shifted to campaigning and publicly communicating about climate change from the 2000s.

Flannery's prominence in raising awareness around the subject, and efforts to oppose climate change denial, have occasionally attracted hostility from the media.{{Cite web |date=2020-01-03 |title=The Australian: Murdoch-owned newspaper accused of downplaying bushfires in favour of picnic races |url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/jan/04/the-australian-murdoch-owned-newspaper-accused-of-downplaying-bushfires-in-favour-of-picnic-races |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} Some of Flannery's academic peers were also initially critical of Flannery for speaking outside of his primary area of expertise. When discussing this in 2009, Flannery said that climate change science was a less established field earlier in his career and experts from multiple fields had shifted to respond to the issue, and said he feels publicly funded scientists are obliged to communicate their work and be vocal on important issues. In 2015, the Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue recognised Flannery for using dialogue and authentic engagement to build global consensus for action around climate change.{{cite web |title=Climate Solutions with Tim Flannery |url=https://www.sfu.ca/dialogue/watch-read-discover/tim-flannery.html |access-date=1 March 2019 |archive-date=30 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730085707/https://www.sfu.ca/dialogue/watch-read-discover/tim-flannery.html |url-status=dead }} As of 2021, he had attended six United Nations Climate Change conferences in official government roles and as an observer.

In 2002, Flannery was appointed as chair of South Australia's Environmental Sustainability Board and was an advisor on climate change to South Australian Premier Mike Rann.{{Cite web |date=2002-09-01 |title=Mike Rann's politics of the possible – South Australia |url=http://www.companydirectors.com.au/Director-Resource-Centre/Publications/Company-Director-magazine/2000-to-2009-back-editions/2002/September/Mike-Ranns-politics-of-the-possible-Centre-Liftout-South-Australia |access-date=2015-06-09 |website=Australian Institute of Company Directors}} He was a member of the Queensland Climate Change Council established by the Queensland Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation Andrew McNamara.{{Cite web |title=Hon Mike Rann AC CNZM |url=https://www.theclimategroup.org/hon-mike-rann-ac-cnzm |access-date=2023-01-28 |website=Climate Group |language=en}}

He was chairman of the Copenhagen Climate Council, an international group of business and other leaders that coordinated a business response to climate change and assisted the Danish government in the lead up to COP15.Copenhagen Climate Council (2008). "[http://copenhagenclimatecouncil.com/index.php/tim-flannery-chairman Tim Flannery] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20080708220356/http://copenhagenclimatecouncil.com/index.php/tim-flannery-chairman |date=8 July 2008 }}". Retrieved 17 May 2008.

Flannery has frequently discussed the effects of climate change, particularly on Australia, and advocated for its mitigation. During the devastating Black Summer bushfires of 2019–20, Flannery frequently appeared in the media{{cite news |title=How much closer to their doors must the fire burn? It's immoral not to connect the dots |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/how-much-closer-to-their-doors-must-the-fire-burn-it-s-immoral-not-to-connect-the-dots-20191218-p53l9d.html}}{{cite news |title=Australia's 'black summer' bushfires showed the impact of human-wrought change |work=The Guardian Australia |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/31/australias-black-summer-bushfires-showed-the-impact-of-human-wrought-change-aoe}}{{cite news |title=This is the age of the megafire – and it's being fuelled by our leaders |work=The Guardian Australia |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/07/climate-fire-leaders-disaster-australian-government}} to discuss the links between climate change and the unprecedented bushfires, stating, "I am absolutely certain that [the bushfires are] climate change caused."{{cite news |title=Scientist: 'I'm certain' climate change caused Australia fires |publisher=CNN |url=https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2020/01/06/amanpour-tim-flannery-australia-bushfires.cnn}}

In February 2011, it was announced that Flannery had been appointed to head the Climate Commission established by Prime Minister Julia Gillard to explain climate change and the need for a carbon price to the public.{{cite web |last=Morton |first=Adam |date=11 February 2011 |title=Rudd critic to lead climate team |url=https://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/rudd-critic-to-lead-climate-team-20110210-1aoqk.html |access-date=15 October 2020 |work=The Age |publisher=Fairfax Media}} The commission was a panel of leading scientists and business experts whose mandate was to provide an "independent and reliable" source of information for all Australians.{{cite web| title=About the Commission| url=http://climatecommission.gov.au/about/| publisher=Climate Commission| access-date=24 September 2013| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827044300/http://climatecommission.gov.au/about/| archive-date=27 August 2013}}

Following the election of the Abbott government in the 2013 Australian federal election, on 19 September 2013 Flannery was sacked from his position as head of the Climate Commission in a phone call from new Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt. "It was a short and courteous conversation," Flannery recalls. "I'm pretty sure that cabinet hadn't been convened when they did it. My very strong recollection is that it was [the Abbott Government's] very first act in government... The website that we'd spent a lot of time building was taken down with absolutely no justification as far as I could see. It was giving basic information that was being used by many, many people—teachers and others—just to gain a better understanding of what climate science was actually about."{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/you-bastards-sacked-me-when-the-climate-sceptics-arrived-20200626-p556nn.html | title='You bastards sacked me.' When the climate sceptics arrived |author=Marian Wilkinson |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date= 2020-08-29}} It was also announced that the commission would be dismantled and its remit handled by the Department of Environment.{{cite news| author=Jones, Gemma | title=Tim Flannery sacked, Climate Commission dismantled by Coalition| url=http://www.news.com.au/national-news/tim-flannery-sacked-climate-commission-dismantled-by-coalition/story-fncynjr2-1226722779566| access-date=19 September 2013| publisher=News.com.au| date=19 September 2013}}{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abbott-shuts-down-climate-commission-20130919-2u185.html | title=Abbott shuts down Climate Commission |author=Tom Arup |newspaper=theage.com.au |date= 2013-09-19|access-date=27 October 2013}}

By 6 October 2013, Flannery and the other commissioners had launched a new body called the Climate Council. Flannery told ABC News that the organisation stated that it had the same goals as the former Climate Commission, to provide independent information on the science of climate change. Amanda McKenzie was appointed as CEO. Between 24 September and 6 October the new Climate Council had raised $1 million in funding from a public appeal, sufficient to keep the organisation operating for 12 months.{{cite news| title=Climate Council, which replaced the axed Climate Commission, reaches $1 million funding target| url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-05/climate-council-has-sufficient-funding-to-operate-for-a-year/5000822| access-date=15 October 2013|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation| date= 6 October 2013}} The Climate Council continues to exist based on donations from the general public.

In 1994, Flannery published The Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People, which became a bestseller. The synopsis of the work regards three waves of human migration in these regions. These waves of people Flannery describes as "future eaters". The first wave was the migration to Australia and New Guinea from Southeast Asia approximately 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. The second was Polynesian migration to New Zealand and surrounding islands 800 to 3,500 years ago.{{cite book|last=Flannery|first=Timothy Fridtjof|title=The future eaters: an ecological history of the Australasian lands and people|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0730104877|url-access=registration|year=1994|publisher=Reed New Holland|location=Sydney|isbn=978-1-876334-21-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_0730104877/page/242 242]}} The third and final wave Flannery describes is European colonisation at the end of the 18th century.

Flannery describes the evolution of the first wave of future-eaters:

{{blockquote|Sixty thousand or more years ago human technology was developing at what we would consider to be an imperceptible pace. Yet it was fast enough to give the first Australasians complete mastery over the 'new lands'. Freed from the ecological constraints of their homeland and armed with weapons honed in the relentless arms race of Eurasia, the colonisers of the 'new lands' were poised to become the world's first future eaters.{{cite book|last=Flannery|first=Timothy Fridtjof|title=The future eaters: an ecological history of the Australasian lands and people|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0730104877|url-access=registration|year=1994|publisher=Reed New Holland|location=Sydney|isbn=978-1-876334-21-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_0730104877/page/143 143]}}}}

In contrast with other hypotheses that climate variability and change had shaped the evolutionary history of Australia, he instead attributed the continent's nutrient-poor soil as a driver. He also proposed that Aboriginal Australians had shaped the continent's ecosystems through their fire-stick farming and unique practices. It also advocates for modern societies of the Australasian region adapt to its unique ecological conditions, including managing the environment, consuming local rather than imported species, and limiting human population growth.{{Cite journal |last=Flannery |first=Tim |date=1995 |title=The future eaters: some further thoughts on population policy |url=https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/journal_contribution/The_future_eaters_some_further_thoughts_on_population_policy/4975349/1 |journal=People and Place |language=en |volume=3 |doi=10.4225/03/590bd22b6c993}}

The Future Eaters enjoyed strong sales and critical acclaim. Redmond O'Hanlon, a Times Literary Supplement correspondent said that "Flannery tells his beautiful story in plain language, science popularising at its antipodean best". Fellow activist David Suzuki praised Flannery's "powerful insight into our current destructive path". Some experts disagreed with Flannery's thesis, however, concerned that his broad-based approach, ranging across multiple disciplines, ignored counter-evidence and was overly simplistic.{{cite web | title = The Future Eaters | publisher = ABC Television | year = 1998 | url = http://www.abc.net.au/science/future/theses/theses.htm | access-date = 10 April 2007 }}

The Future Eaters was adapted into a documentary series for ABC Television.{{Cite web |title=The Future Eaters - Home page of the TV documentary series |url=https://www.abc.net.au/science/future/default.htm |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=www.abc.net.au}}

While reading scientific journals more widely during his tenure at South Australian Museum, Flannery became increasingly alarmed by anthropogenic climate change. He spent five years writing a book on the topic. This culminated in The Weather Makers: The History & Future Impact of Climate Change published in 2005, in which he outlined the science behind climate change for a general audience.{{Cite news |date=2009-02-28 |title=Tim Flannery, eco-science's great campaigner |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/99b94abc-0156-11de-8f6e-000077b07658 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211191211/https://www.ft.com/content/99b94abc-0156-11de-8f6e-000077b07658 |archive-date=11 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=2022-04-25 }} "With great scientific advances being made every month, this book is necessarily incomplete," Flannery writes, but "That should not, however, be used as an excuse for inaction. We know enough to act wisely."

The book broadly discussed longer-term patterns of climatic change and its influence on evolution. It also discussed contemporary greenhouse gas emissions and effects of climate change, such as sea level rise, impacts on large storms and species extinction. Flannery also provided guidance on mitigation, such as reducing emissions and increasing solar and wind power.{{Cite news |title='Weather Makers' Seeks to End Climate Debate |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2006/03/22/5293273/weather-makers-seeks-to-end-climate-debate |access-date=2022-04-28}} Other points include:

• that a failure to act on climate change may eventually force the creation of a global carbon dictatorship, which he calls the "Earth Commission for Thermostatic Control", to regulate carbon use across all industries and nations—a level of governmental intrusion that Flannery describes as "very undesirable";{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Tony |date=26 September 2005 |title=Hurricanes can be tied to climate change |url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2005/s1468878.htm |access-date=10 April 2007 |work=Lateline |publisher=ABC Television}} and
• the establishment of "Geothermia"{{cite book |author=Gabe, Martyn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_4mzCgAAQBAJ&q=flannery+Geothermia&pg=PT297 |title=The Moral Vacuum |date=2009 | publisher=Xlibris Corporation |isbn=9781503507906 |access-date=1 September 2016}}—a new city at the NSW-South Australia-Queensland border—to take advantage of the location's abundance of natural gas reserves, geothermal and solar energy. Flannery argues that such a city could be completely energy self-sufficient, and would be a model for future city development worldwide. Of the city project, Flannery told The Bulletin that "I know it's radical but we have no choice".

The book won international acclaim. Bill Bryson concluded that "It would be hard to imagine a better or more important book." The Weather Makers was honoured in 2006 as 'Book of the Year' at the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.{{cite web |year=2006 |title=The Weather Makers: All About the Book |url=http://www.theweathermakers.com/weathermakers/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070322222441/http://www.theweathermakers.com/weathermakers/ |archive-date=22 March 2007 |access-date=10 April 2007 |publisher=Text Publishing}} James Hansen reviewed the book positively.{{Cite news |last=Hansen |first=Jim |title=The Threat to the Planet {{!}} Jim Hansen |journal=New York Review of Books |language=en |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2006/07/13/the-threat-to-the-planet/ |access-date=2022-04-28 |issn=0028-7504}} Released not long before An Inconvenient Truth, the book came at a time when climate change was becoming more prominent topic in public opinion and increased Flannery's profile. A review in NPR outlined how Flannery had sought to settle debate and controversy about climate change that was prominent at the time.

Flannery has published many other books.{{Cite web |last=Christoff |first=Peter |date=2020-01-10 |title=Tim Flannery and a life of science, discovery and writing |url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/tim-flannery-and-a-life-of-science-discovery-and-writing-20200101-p53o4x.html |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}} He recounted his scientific fieldwork and experiences with local tribal people in New Guinea in Throwim Way Leg (1999). He later released an account of his work in Australia in Chasing Kangaroos (2007).{{Cite news |last=Grimes |first=William |date=2007-07-25 |title=A Zoologist With a Pouch of Stories |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/books/25grim.html |access-date=2022-04-25 |issn=0362-4331}}

In 2010's Here on Earth, Flannery criticises elements of Darwinism while endorsing James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis. In 2015, Flannery published Atmosphere of Hope, which discussed climate change mitigation, carbon sequestration and technological solutions and acts as a follow-up to The Weather Makers.{{Cite web |date=2015-11-20 |title=Climate crisis: seaweed, coffee and cement could save the planet |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/nov/20/climate-crisis-future-brighter-tim-flannery |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} He published another work about climate change in 2020, The Climate Cure, which calls for the Australian government to address the issue and argues its response to the COVID-19 pandemic could be used as a model for this.{{Cite web |last=Thomson |first=Alistair |date=2021-02-22 |title=Alistair Thomson reviews 'The Climate Cure: Solving the climate emergency in the era of Covid-19' by Tim Flannery |url=https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/archive/2021/960-march-2021-no-429/7496-alistair-thomson-reviews-the-climate-cure-solving-the-climate-emergency-in-the-era-of-covid-19-by-tim-flannery |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=Australian Book Review |language=en-gb}}{{Cite web |last=Fitzgerald |first=Farley |date=2021-05-24 |title=Internationally acclaimed conservationist Tim Flannery presents 'The Climate Cure' |url=https://australian.museum/about/organisation/media-centre/climate-cure-talbot/ |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=The Australian Museum |language=en}}

Following The Future Eaters on Australasia, he has published popular science books recounting the natural histories of North America in The Eternal Frontier (2001){{Cite web |last=Heffernan |first=Michael |date=2001-07-21 |title=Reviews: The Eternal Frontier by Tim Flannery, and The Oxford Companion to United States History, ed Paul S Boyer |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/jul/21/historybooks.highereducation1 |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} and Europe in Europe: A Natural History (2018).{{Cite news |title=Europe: A Natural History by Tim Flannery – bold and brilliant |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/europe-a-natural-history-by-tim-flannery-bold-and-brilliant-1.3646438 |access-date=2022-04-25 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}

Flannery has appeared in several series for ABC Television, including several travel documentary collaborations with comedian John Doyle. Two Men In A Tinnie focused on the pair travelling down the Murray River, and Two in the Top End in the Kimberley.

In August 2017 Flannery hosted an episode of ABC Catalyst investigating how carefully managed seaweed growth could contribute to combating climate change via the sequestration of atmospheric carbon to the ocean floor. This explored the details of the book he published in July 2017, Sunlight and Seaweed: An Argument for How to Feed, Power and Clean Up the World.{{Cite web |title=Book Club Four: Sunlight and Seaweed |url=https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/book-club-4/ |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=Climate Council |language=en-GB}} In January 2018, Flannery appeared on the ABC's Science program exploring whether humans are becoming a new 'Mass Extinction Event',{{Citation |title=Are We A Mass Extinction Event? - Sciencey | date=23 November 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw-hTF2EvWk&list=PLJI8aSIWm2aB2rWQLI-flwILAgbNAx9xt&index=17 |language=en |access-date=2022-04-25}} in addition to outlining the '5 Things You Need to Know About Climate Change'.{{Cite web |title=- YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba2y9xSzjUk |access-date=2022-04-25 |website=www.youtube.com}} Flannery also appeared in the 2021 documentary film Burning, about the Black Summer bushfires.{{Cite news |last=Rapold |first=Nicolas |date=2021-11-25 |title='Burning' Review: Pulling the Fire Alarm in Australia |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/25/movies/burning-review-documentary-australia.html |access-date=2022-04-25 |issn=0362-4331}}

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Flannery's work in raising the profile of environmental issues was key to his being named Australian of the Year in 2007.{{cite book |author=Lewis, Wendy |title=Australians of the Year |publisher=Pier 9 Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-74196-809-5 |author-link=Wendy Lewis}}{{cite web| title=Tim Flannery | type= re: Australian of the Year 2007| url= http://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/melbourne_details.php?id=10761| work=Only Melbourne| access-date=23 May 2011}} Awarding the prize, then Prime Minister John Howard said that the scientist "has encouraged Australians into new ways of thinking about our environmental history and future ecological challenges."{{cite news |date=25 January 2007 |title=Climate change crusader is Australian of the Year |newspaper=The West Australian |url=http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=145&ContentID=19672 |access-date=10 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927192549/http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=145&ContentID=19672 |archive-date=27 September 2007}} That said, Howard, a climate denier, was unconvinced as to some of Flannery's views.

Flannery has long spoken out about the impacts of climate change in Australia and internationally.File:2014-09-21 Tim Flannery Peoples Climate March Melbourne 600 0485.JPG in Melbourne, September 2014]]In May 2004, Flannery said in light of the city's water crisis that "I think there is a fair chance Perth will be the 21st century's first ghost metropolis",{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/18/1084783517732.html |title=Sydney's future eaten: the Flannery prophecy |author=Davis, Anne|date=19 May 2004|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=24 July 2016}} a warning reiterated in 2007.{{cite news|url=http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/flannery-sticks-by-ghost-city/news-story/49cec9bf446f6e3be9e730e29fe52476 |title=Flannery sticks by 'ghost' city |author=Premble, Louise|date=17 February 2007|work=Perth Now|access-date=17 February 2017}} In 2005, he issued several warnings about water issues in Australia, saying "water is going to be in short supply across the eastern states".{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/Opinion/Running-out-of-water--and-time/2005/04/24/1114281450815.html |title=Running out of water – and time |date=25 April 2005|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=24 July 2016}} In June 2005 warning that "the ongoing drought could leave Sydney's dams dry in just two years".{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2005-06-11/climate-change-will-prolong-drought-conditions/1590294 |title=Climate change 'will prolong' drought conditions |date=11 June 2005|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|access-date=24 July 2016}}{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/flannery-issues-global-warming-warning/1590650 |title= Flannery issues global warming warning|date=10 June 2005|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia|access-date=25 October 2017}}

In October 2006 Flannery quoted a US Navy study stating that, there may be, "no Arctic icecap in Summer in the next five to 15 years. He also quoted NASA's Professor James Hansen, "arguably the world authority on climate change" who said, "we have just a decade to avert a 25-metre rise of the sea".{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/climates-last-chance/2006/10/27/1161749313108.html |title=Climate's last chance |author=Flannery, Tim|date=28 October 2006|work=The Age|access-date=24 July 2016}} In February 2007, as he explained how increased soil evaporation impacts on runoff, he said "even the [existing amount of] rain that falls isn't actually going to fill our dams and our river systems"{{cite news|author=Sara, Sally|date=2007-02-11|title=Interview with Professor Tim Flannery |url=https://www.abc.net.au/local/archives/landline/content/2006/s1844398.htm#:~:text=So%20even%20the%20rain%20that%20falls%20isn%27t%20actually%20going%20to%20fill%20our%20dams%20and%20our%20river%20systems |work=Landline, ABC News|access-date=28 December 2018}} and in June 2007, he said that, "Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane, water supplies are so low they need desalinated water urgently, possibly in as little as 18 months".{{cite web|author=Tim Flannery|date=16 June 2007 |url=http://www.sciencearchive.org.au/nova/newscientist/105ns_001.htm|title=Editorial: Australia – not such a lucky country|work=New Scientist|access-date=24 July 2016 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524055921/http://www.sciencearchive.org.au/nova/newscientist/105ns_001.htm|archive-date=24 May 2014}}

In May 2008, Flannery suggested that sulphur could be dispersed into the atmosphere to help block the sun leading to global dimming, in order to counteract the effects of global warming.{{cite news |last=Alexander |first=Cathy |date=19 May 2008 |title=Tim Flannery's radical climate change 'solution' |publisher=News.com.au |agency=Australian Associated Press |url=http://www.news.com.au/top-stories/climate-plan-could-change-sky-colour/story-e6frfkp9-1111116384553 |access-date=23 April 2011}}

In 2019, Flannery said, "Sadly, I've been aware of [the urgency to act] for a long time. We have to reduce emissions as hard and fast as possible... The speed and scale of impacts have been something that is really shocking." He continued to warn people that, "People are shocked, but they should be angry...The consequences will grow year by year, and stuff we were warning people about 20 years ago is now coming to fruition and is impossible to deny, unless you are wilfully blind."{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/20/tim-flannery-people-are-shocked-about-climate-change-but-they-should-be-angry|title=Tim Flannery: people are shocked about climate change but they should be angry|date=21 March 2019|work=Guardian Australia|access-date=16 September 2020}} He also said that climate activism during the previous two decades had been a "colossal failure", but praised Greta Thunberg, school strikes for climate and Extinction Rebellion for their impact on the climate movement during the 2010s.{{Cite web |date=2019-09-17 |title=I now look back on my 20 years of climate activism as a colossal failure {{!}} Tim Flannery |url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/17/i-now-look-back-on-my-20-years-of-climate-activism-as-a-colossal-failure |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}

In response to the introduction of proposed clean coal technology, Flannery has stated: "Globally there has got to be some areas where clean coal will work out, so I think there will always be a coal export industry [for Australia] ... Locally in Australia because of particular geological issues and because of the competition from cleaner and cheaper energy alternatives, I'm not 100 per cent sure clean coal is going to work out for our domestic market."[http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21225432-661,00.html "Coal Can't Be Clean – Flannery"], Melbourne Herald Sun, 14 February 2007.

Flannery has advocated for a renewable energy transition in Australia. He joined calls for the cessation or reduction of conventional coal-fired power generation in Australia in the medium term, at a time when it was the source of most of the nation's electricity. Flannery's view is that conventional coal burning will lose its social license to operate, comparing it to asbestos.{{cite news |author=Stephanie Peatling |date=9 February 2007 |title=Coal will be the new asbestos, says Flannery |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/coal-will-be-the-new-asbestos-says-flannery/2007/02/08/1170524236625.html |access-date=10 April 2007}}

In 2006 Flannery was in support of nuclear power as a possible solution for reducing Australia's carbon emissions;{{cite magazine | first = Julie-Anne | last = Davies | title = Dr Flannery, I presume | magazine = The Bulletin | date = 23 February 2007 | url = http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=228258 | access-date = 10 April 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070403095709/http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=228258 | archive-date = 3 April 2007 }}{{cite news| url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/lets-talk-about-nuclear-power-emandem-other-energy-sources/2006/05/29/1148754933159.html | location=Melbourne | work=The Age | title=Let's talk about nuclear power and other energy sources | date=30 May 2006}} however, in 2007 changed his position against it.[http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/02/05/flip-flop-flannery-is-a-climate-change-opportunist/ Clive Hamilton:Flip-flop Flannery is a climate change opportunist, in Crikey 5 February 2009], retrieved 17 June 2010 In May 2007 he told a business gathering in Sydney that while nuclear energy does have a role elsewhere in the world, Australia's abundance of renewable resources rule out the need for nuclear power in the near term. He does, however, feel that Australia should and will have to supply its uranium to those other countries that do not have access to renewables like Australia does.{{cite news| url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/nuclear-power-a-turnoff-flannery-changes-stance/2007/05/22/1179601413336.html | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | title=Nuclear power a turn-off: Flannery changes stance | date=23 May 2007}}

In September 2005 Flannery said, "There are hot rocks in South Australia that potentially have enough embedded energy in them to run Australia's economy for the best part of a century".{{cite news |author=Jones, Tony |date=7 February 2007 |title=Tony Jones speaks with Tim Flannery |publisher=ABC News |location=Australia |url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2006/s1842715.htm |access-date=1 September 2016}}{{cite news |author=Flannery, Tim |date=26 September 2005 |title=The power beneath our feet |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/the-power-beneath-our-feet/2005/09/26/1127586753959.html |access-date=1 September 2016}} For the Cooper Basin, he proposed the establishment of a fully sustainable city where, "hundreds of thousands of people would live", utilising these geothermal energy reserves. He named the hypothetical city "Geothermia".{{cite news |author=Hodgkinson, David |date=December 2008 |title=Review – Tim Flannery's 'Now or Never |work=Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Western Australia |url=http://www.ias.uwa.edu.au/new-critic/nine/hodgkinson |access-date=1 September 2016}} Subsequently, in 2007, an exploration company was established. The company expected to raise at least $11.5m on the Australian Stock Exchange.{{cite news |date=25 October 2007 |title="Hot Dry Rock" company float to fund South Australian pilot plant |work=Geodynamics Limited |url=http://www.aie.org.au/pubs/hotdry.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=1 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723035649/http://www.aie.org.au/pubs/hotdry.htm |archive-date=23 July 2008}} Flannery took up shares in the company.{{cite web |date=2007 |title=Tim Flannery named Australia of the Year |url=http://www.hotdryrocks.com/content/view/39/2/ |access-date=3 September 2016 |work=Hot Dry Rocks Pty Ltd |archive-date=16 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916103306/http://www.hotdryrocks.com/content/view/39/2/ |url-status=dead }} In 2010, the Federal Government provided the company with another $90m for the development work.{{cite news |date=13 October 2010 |title=$90 m REDP grant for Geodynamics now unconditional |work=Geodynamics Limited |url=http://www.geodynamics.com.au/getattachment/b1e346be-2a3f-42cc-b0b1-33c2b6472a9c/$90-m-REDP-grant-for-Geodynamics-now-unconditional.aspx |access-date=1 September 2016 |archive-date=9 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309065745/http://www.geodynamics.com.au/getattachment/b1e346be-2a3f-42cc-b0b1-33c2b6472a9c/$90-m-REDP-grant-for-Geodynamics-now-unconditional.aspx |url-status=dead }} In August 2016, the geothermal energy project closed as it was not financially viable.{{cite news |author=England, Cameron |date=29 August 2016 |title=Geodynamics calls it a day with its South Australian geothermal energy plans |work=Adelaide Now |url=http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/geodynamics-calls-it-a-day-with-its-south-australian-geothermal-energy-plans/news-story/8ffdf4e24b633e5a41e4afd4f6787f2a |access-date=1 September 2016}}{{cite news |author=Fedorowytsch, Tom |date=30 August 2016 |title=Geothermal power project closes in SA as technology deemed not financially viable |publisher=ABC News |location=Australia |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-30/geothermal-power-plant-closes-deemed-not-financially-viable/7798962 |access-date=1 September 2016}}

When, in the concluding chapters of The Future Eaters (1994), Flannery discusses how to "utilise our few renewable resources in the least destructive way", he remarks that

{{blockquote|A far better situation for conservation in Australia would result from a policy which allows exploitation of all of our biotic heritage, provided that it all be done in a sustainable manner. .... [I]f it is possible to harvest for example, 10 mountain pygmy-possums (Burramys parvus) or 10 southern right whales (Balaena glacialis) per year, why should we not do it? ... Is it more moral to kill and consume a whale, without cost to the environment, than to live as a vegetarian in Australia, destroying seven kilograms of irreplaceable soil, ... for each kilogram of bread we consume?Tim Flannery, The Future Eaters, pp. 402–403. {{ISBN|0-8021-3943-4}}}}

In late 2007, Flannery suggested that the Japanese whaling involving the relatively common minke whale may be sustainable:

{{blockquote|In terms of sustainability, you can't be sure that the Japanese whaling is entirely unsustainable... It's hard to imagine that the whaling would lead to a new decline in population [...][https://www.news.com.au/national/flannery-says-japan-whaling-sustainable/news-story/3b8d6a4a91863b514af8cfa20756b0d0 Flannery says Japan whaling 'sustainable'] news.com.au. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2020.}}

This raised concerns among some environmental groups such as Greenpeace,[http://news.smh.com.au/flannerys-views-on-whales-curious/20071231-1jmg.html Flannery's views on whales 'curious'.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306054308/http://news.smh.com.au/flannerys-views-on-whales-curious/20071231-1jmg.html |date=6 March 2008 }} The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved on 2 January 2008[http://www.livenews.com.au/Articles/2007/12/31/Australian_of_the_year_reveals_his_support_for_whaling Tim Flannery lampooned by sustainable whaling claims.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071231211609/http://www.livenews.com.au/articles/2007/12/31/Australian_of_the_year_reveals_his_support_for_whaling |date=31 December 2007 }} LiveNews. Retrieved on 2 January 2008 fearing it could add fuel to the Japanese wish of continuing its annual cull. In contrast to his stance on the minke whale quota, Flannery has expressed relief over the dumping of the quota of the rarer humpback whale, and further was worried how whales were slaughtered, wishing them to be "killed as humanely as possible".[http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/flannery-worried-about-small-fish-not-big-whale-culls/2007/12/31/1198949702750.html Flannery worried about small fish, not big whale culls.] Brisbane Times. Retrieved on 2 January 2008 Flannery suggested that krill and other small crustaceans, the primary food source for many large whales and an essential part of the marine food chain, were of greater concern than the Japanese whaling.

File:Catagonus wagneri closeup.jpg could be brought from Paraguay to North America, to replace the extinct flat-headed peccary.]]

In The Future Eaters, Flannery was critical of the European settlers introducing non-native wild animals into Australia's ecosystem. At the same time, he suggested that if one wanted to reproduce, in some parts of Australia, the ecosystems that existed there around 60,000 years ago (before the arrival of the humans on the continent), it may be necessary to introduce into Australia, in a thoughtful and careful way, some non-native species that would be the closest substitutes to the continent's lost megafauna. In particular, he proposed the Komodo dragon be brought into Australia as a replacement for its extinct relative, Megalania, "the largest goanna of all time". He also suggested the Tasmanian devil could be allowed to re-settle the mainland Australia from its Tasmanian refuge area.Tim Flannery, The Future Eaters, pp. 384–385. {{ISBN|0-8021-3943-4}}{{Primary source inline|date=April 2022}}

In The Eternal Frontier, Flannery made a proposal for what later became nicknamed "Pleistocene rewilding": restoring the ecosystems that existed in North America before the arrival of the Clovis people and the concomitant disappearance of the North American Pleistocene megafauna 13,000 years ago. He proposed if, in addition to the wolves that have been already re-introduced to Yellowstone National Park, ambush predators, such as jaguars and lions should be reintroduced as well, in order to bring the number of elk under control. Furthermore, the closest extant relatives of the species that became extinct around the Clovis period could be introduced to North America's nature reserves as well. In particular, the Indian and African elephants could substitute, respectively, for the mammoth and the mastodon; the Chacoan peccary, for its extinct cousin the flat-headed peccary (Platygonus compressus). Llamas and panthers, which still survive outside of the US, should too be brought back to that country.Flannery, The Eternal Frontier, {{ISBN|1-876485-72-8}}, pp. 345–346. On the peccary, p. 158{{Primary source inline|date=April 2022}}

Flannery advocated for human population planning in Australia in the 1990s. He has been a patron of Sustainable Population Australia since 2000.{{cite web |title=Prof Tim Flannery |url=https://population.org.au/about/people/prof-tim-flannery/ |publisher=Sustainable Population Australia}} He said in 2007 that he had stopped discussing population issues, as he said he did not think curbing population growth was a solution to climate change. In 2009, Flannery called for an inquiry into population growth in Australia, to better elucidate the potential environmental impacts of the country's growing population.{{Cite news |date=2009-11-19 |title=Flannery calls for population inquiry |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-11-20/flannery-calls-for-population-inquiry/1149666 |access-date=2022-04-21}}

In 2009, Flannery joined the project "Soldiers of Peace", a move against all wars and for a global peace.{{cite web |url=http://www.soldiersofpeacemovie.com/about/the-cast/18/tim-flannery/ |title=Tim Flannery — The Cast — Soldiers of Peace |publisher=Soldiersofpeacemovie.com |access-date=18 October 2009 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808104958/http://www.soldiersofpeacemovie.com/about/the-cast/18/tim-flannery/ |archive-date=8 August 2009 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.soldatidipace.blogspot.com/ |title=Soldati di Pace (Soldiers of Peace) |publisher=Soldatidipace.blogspot.com |date=18 October 2009 |access-date=18 October 2009}}

In July 2018 he played a role in the Kwaio Reconciliation programme in the Solomon Islands, which put an end to a 91-year-old cycle of killings that stemmed from the murders in 1927 of British Colonial officers Bell and Gillies by Kwaio leader Basiana and his followers.{{Cite web |last=patrickw@themonthly.com.au |date=2019-05-01 |title=Reconciliation, Kwaio style |url=https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2019/may/1556632800/tim-flannery/reconciliation-kwaio-style |access-date=2022-04-21 |website=The Monthly}}

• 1990: Edgeworth David Medal for outstanding research in zoology
• 1996: Rudi Lemberg Travelling Fellowship, Australian Academy of Science
• 1996: POL Eureka Prize for Environmental Research, Australian Museum
• 1996: Colin Roderick Award, Foundation for Australian Literary Studies, for Tree Kangaroos
• 1997: Whitley Medal, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales
• 1997: Ellis Troughton Memorial Award, Australian Mammal Society
• 2002: First environmental scientist to deliver the Australia Day address to the nation
• 2003: Centenary of Federation Medal, for his services to Australian science{{cite web |title=Tim Flannery |website=RSA |url=https://www.thersa.org/events/speakers/tim-flannery |access-date=16 November 2024}}
• 2005: Australian Humanist of the Year (2005)[https://vichumanist.org.au/australian-humanist-awards/ahoy-2000-2020/ Australian Humanist of the year awards 2000 to current.]
• 2006: Lannan Literary Award for Non-Fiction, US, for The Weather Makers
• 2006: NSW Premier's Literary Awards for Best Critical Writing and Book of the Year, for The Weather Makers{{Cite book |url=https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-explorers-tim-flannery/book/9781921922435.html |title=The Explorers}}
• 2006: ABIA Award, for The Weather Makers
• 2006: The New York Times Best Seller list (The Weather Makers)
• 2006: NSW Australian of the Year
• 2007: Australian of the Year
• 2007: La Trobe Distinguished Alumni Award
• 2010: Joseph Leidy Award, Academy of Natural Sciences, US;{{cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Peter |date=3 November 2010 |title=Flannery wins Joseph Leidy Award |url=http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/flannery-wins-joseph-leidy-award-20101102-17dl5.html |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |location=Sydney |access-date=15 April 2015}} the first Australian to receive the award{{cite web |title=Scientist Tim Flannery is first Austrailian to receive Joseph Leidy Award |website=EurekAlert! |url=https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/804127 |access-date=16 November 2024}}
• 2011: Order of Saint-Charles, Monaco{{cite web |title=10 La Trobe alumni eco-champions fighting for a sustainable future |website=La Trobe University, Melbourne Victoria Australia |date=1 August 2019 |url=https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/announcements/2019/10-la-trobe-alumni-eco-champions-fighting-for-a-sustainable-future |access-date=16 November 2024}}
• 2012: Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA){{cite web |url= https://www.science.org.au/fellowship/fellows/professor-timothy-fritjof-flannery |title= Professor Timothy Fritjof Flannery |publisher= Australian Academy of Science |date= 2012 |access-date= 17 December 2016 |archive-date= 26 December 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171226075600/https://www.science.org.au/fellowship/fellows/professor-timothy-fritjof-flannery |url-status= dead }}
• 2014: Invited to deliver the inaugural Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI) lecture{{cite web |title=A lifetime of achievement |website=The Australian Museum |date=19 August 2014 |url=https://australian.museum/blog-archive/science/tim-flannery-lifetime-achievement/ |access-date=16 November 2024}}
• 2014: Lifetime Achievement Award from AMRI
• 2015: Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue, for advancing people's knowledge of climate change through his writing and research
• 2018: Fellow, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales
• 2021: Inaugural Talbot Oration at the Australian Museum, named in honour of marine biologist Frank Talbot{{cite web |title=The Climate Cure: The inaugural Talbot Oration |website=The Australian Museum |date=20 July 2021 |url=https://australian.museum/blog/at-the-museum/talbot-oration-2021/ |access-date=16 November 2024}}

In addition to writing non-fiction, Flannery has also written unpublished works of fiction.{{Cite news |date=2007-06-22 |title=Dinner with the FT: Tim Flannery |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/cc53859a-1ed2-11dc-bc22-000b5df10621 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211191254/https://www.ft.com/content/cc53859a-1ed2-11dc-bc22-000b5df10621 |archive-date=11 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=2022-04-26 }}

In 1995 he became a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Zoology.

From 1997 until 1999, he was a board member of the New South Wales National Parks Service Foundation as well as on the editorial board of Tropical Biodiversity in Jakarta, Indonesia.

In 2000 he was a member of the National Environmental Education Council, and in 2003 a member of the International Advisory Council for Research and Education at the National Geographic Society. In 2007 he was a member of the Queensland Government's Council of Climate Change.

{{as of|2015}}, Flannery was a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, and a governor of WWF-Australia. He was also for a time director of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.

Flannery has described himself as a non-political person, and a humanist rather than atheist.

Flannery rarely discusses his personal life publicly. He met his first wife Paula Kendall while at La Trobe in the 1970s. Flannery and Kendall's house south of Sydney was destroyed in a bushfire in 1994. He has two children with Kendall; the couple separated in 1996.

His second wife is anthropologist Alexandra Szalay. He has a third child with his partner Kate Holden, an author. He moved to Victoria to be with her in 2014.

{{As of|2018}} he owned a house with a solar hot water system at Coba Point on the Hawkesbury River, {{cvt|40|km}} north of Sydney, accessible only by boat;{{cite web |author=Tim Flannery |title=QUARTERLY ESSAY 43 BAD NEWS CORRESPONDENCE |website=Quarterly Essay |date=13 September 2018 |url=https://www.quarterlyessay.com.au/correspondence/correspondence-tim-flannery}} after this living location was revealed by broadcaster Ray Hadley he received threats and was given police protection.

{{Incomplete list|date=March 2018}}

• {{cite book |author=Flannery, Timothy |title=Mammals of New Guinea |location=Carina, Qld. |publisher=Robert Brown & Associates |year=1990 }}
• {{cite book|author=Flannery, Tim Fridtjof|title=The Future Eaters: an ecological history of the Australasian lands and people|publisher=Reed Books|year=1994|isbn=}}
• Tim Flannery (1994), Possums of the World : Monograph of the Phalangeroidea ({{ISBN|0-646-14389-1}}).
• {{cite book |author=Flannery, Timothy |title=Mammals of New Guinea |location=Chatswood, NSW |publisher=Reed/Australian Museum |year=1995 |edition=New }}
• Tim Flannery (1995), Mammals of the South-West Pacific & Moluccan Islands ({{ISBN|0-7301-0417-6}}).
• Tim Flannery, Roger Martin and Alexandra Szalay. (1996) Tree Kangaroos: A Curious Natural History.
• Tim Flannery (1998), Throwim Way Leg: An Adventure ({{ISBN|1-876485-19-1}}).
• Tim Flannery (2001), The Eternal Frontier: An Ecological History of North America and its Peoples ({{ISBN|0-8021-3888-8}}).
• John A. Long, Michael Archer, Tim Flannery and Suzanne Hand (2002), Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution, Johns Hopkins Press ({{ISBN|978-0-801872-23-5}}).
• Tim Flannery & Peter Schouten (2001), A Gap in Nature ({{ISBN|1-876485-77-9}}).
• Tim Flannery & Peter Schouten (2004), Astonishing Animals ({{ISBN|1-920885-21-8}}).
• Tim Flannery (2005), Country: A Continent, a Scientist & a Kangaroo ({{ISBN|1-920885-76-5}}).
• Tim Flannery (2005), The Weather Makers: The History & Future Impact of Climate Change ({{ISBN|1-920885-84-6}}).
• Tim Flannery (2007), Chasing Kangaroos: A Continent, a Scientist, and a Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Creature ({{ISBN|978-0-8021-1852-3}}).
• Tim Flannery (2009), Now or Never: A sustainable future for Australia? ({{ISBN|978-1-86395-429-7}}).[http://www.blackincbooks.com/books/now-or-never Now or Never: A sustainable future for Australia?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071701/http://www.blackincbooks.com/books/now-or-never |date=4 March 2016 }}. Melbourne: Black Inc. Books ({{ISBN|978-1-86395-429-7}}).
• Tim Flannery (2009), Now or Never: Why we need to act now for a sustainable future ({{ISBN|978-1-55468-604-9}}).[http://www.harpercollins.ca/books/9781554686049/Now_or_Never/index.aspx Now or Never: Why we need to act now for a sustainable future] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924025102/http://www.harpercollins.ca/books/9781554686049/Now_or_Never/index.aspx |date=24 September 2015 }}, Harper Collins ({{ISBN|978-1-55468-604-9}}).
• Tim Flannery (2010), Here on Earth ({{ISBN|978-1-921656-66-8}}).[http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/oct/13/can-our-species-escape-destruction/ Can Our Species Escape Destruction?] 13 October 2011 by John Terborgh in The New York Review of Books
• Tim Flannery (2011), Among the Islands: Adventures in the Pacific ({{ISBN|978-1-921758-75-1}}).
• Tim Flannery (2015), Atmosphere of Hope: Searching for Solutions to the Climate Crisis, Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press ({{ISBN|978-0-8021-2406-7}}).{{cite magazine |url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/10/13/greenhouse-warming-prepare-for-the-worst/ |title=Greenhouse Warming: Prepare for the Worst |author=Laurence C. Smith |date=13 October 2016 |website=nybooks.com |publisher=The New York Review of Books |access-date=4 October 2016 |quote=review of Atmosphere of Hope: Searching for Solutions to the Climate Crisis}} Published in the United Kingdom with the title Atmosphere of Hope: Solutions to the Climate Crisis, Penguin Books ({{ISBN|978-0-1419-8104-8}}).
• Tim Flannery (2017), Sunlight and Seaweed: An Argument for How to Feed, Power and Clean Up the World
• Tim Flannery (2018), Europe: A Natural History, Text Publishing ({{ISBN|978-1-9256-0394-1}}).
• Tim Flannery (2019), Life: Selected Writings, Text Publishing ({{ISBN|978-1-9222-6829-7}}).
• Tim Flannery (2020), The Climate Cure: Solving the Climate Emergency in the Era of COVID-19, Text Publishing ({{ISBN|978-1-9223-3035-2|}}).
• Tim Flannery & Emma Flannery (2024), Big Meg: The Story of the Largest and Most Mysterious Predator that Ever Lived, Text Publishing ({{ISBN|978-1-9224-5884-1|}}).

;As editor

• The Birth of Melbourne ({{ISBN|1-877008-89-3}}).
• The Birth of Sydney ({{ISBN|1-876485-45-0}}).
• The Explorers ({{ISBN|1-876485-22-1}}).
• Watkin Tench, Watkin Tench's 1788 ({{ISBN|1-875847-27-8}}).
• Terra Australis: Matthew Flinders' Great Adventures in the Circumnavigation of Australia ({{ISBN|1-876485-92-2}}).
• John Morgan, The Life and Adventures of William Buckley ({{ISBN|1-877008-20-6}}).
• John Nicol, Life and Adventures: 1776–1801 ({{ISBN|1-875847-41-3}}).
• Joshua Slocum, Sailing Alone Around the World ({{ISBN|1-877008-57-5}}).

• The Future Eaters (1998)
• Two Men in a Tinnie (2006) with John Doyle
• Two in the Top End (2008) with John Doyle
• Two on the Great Divide (2012) with John Doyle
• Coast Australia (2013–2017)
• Two Men in China (2014) with John Doyle
• Australia: The Story of Us (2015)

• Kangaroo: A Love-Hate Story (2017)
• Burning (2021)

{{reflist}}

{{Wikiquote}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120410045740/http://www.climatecommission.gov.au/ Climate Commission]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110222214717/http://www.theweathermakers.org/ The Weather Makers book website]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070830161221/http://www.rmit.edu.au/appliedcommunication/publiclectures Tim Flannery lecture online, RMIT School of Applied Communication Public Lecture series]
• [http://ourworldinbalance.blogspot.com/2007/10/story-of-tim-flannery.html The Story of Tim Flannery] by Our World in Balance
• [https://www.nybooks.com/contributors/tim-flannery/ author page and article archive] from The New York Review of Books

• {{cite web| title=Start the Week: Tim Flannery on Andrew Marr talk| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z58b0| date= 7 Mar 2011|work=BBC Radio|format=audio}}
• [http://www.themonthly.com.au/tim-flannery Tim Flannery on SlowTV] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715235911/http://www.themonthly.com.au/tim-flannery |date=15 July 2014 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080827220629/http://www.twenty.uts.edu.au/streaming/vod-tf Address from Professor Tim Flannery] at University of Technology, Sydney, recording of live speech, 22 May 2008
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071113202430/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07%2F10%2F25%2F1454240 Tim Flannery interview] on Democracy Now! program, 25 October 2007
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090815185342/http://worldfuturecouncil.org/tim_flannery.html Councillor at World Future Council]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xOVkS11FVs Tim Flannery: Here on Earth (ABC Radio National)], 23 September 2010

{{Tim Flannery}}

{{Australians of the Year}}

{{Environmentalism}}

{{Authority control}}

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