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Christian Downie

Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow, Australian National University
Dr Christian Downie is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow (2018-2021) in the School of Regulation and Global Governance at The Australian National University. He was previously a Vice Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of New South Wales. Christian has worked as a foreign policy advisor to the Australian Government’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and a climate policy advisor to the Department of Climate Change. Christian holds a PhD in international relations and political science from the Australian National University, having graduated from the University of Sydney with first class honours in economics. He has spent time teaching or researching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Waterloo, among others, and he has worked in policy think tanks in Canberra and Washington D.C. Christian is the author of more than 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters including publications in Global Environmental Politics, Energy Policy, Global Governance, International Affairs, and Third World Quarterly. His first book, The Politics of Climate Change Negotiations, was published in 2014.

Climate Change Series

Big Oil's trade group allies outspent clean energy groups by a whopping 27x, with billions in ads and lobbying to keep fossil fuels flowing

Feb 14, 2023 13:06 pm UTC| Business

Youve probably seen ads promoting gas and oil companies as the solutions to climate change. Theyre meant to be inspiring and hopeful, with scenes of a green, clean future. But shiny ads are not all these companies do to...

Oil in Global Economy Series

Taking US oil in a global crisis sounds good on paper, but it won't do much for Australia's energy security

Mar 12, 2020 17:24 pm UTC| Economy

The federal government this week signed a deal with the US to access their oil reserves should global supplies be disrupted and we eat into our meagre reserve. Oil security is a hot topic in Australia we consume more...

Lack of climate policy threatens to trip up Australian diplomacy this summit season

Sep 10, 2018 13:48 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics Nature

Australia has navigated a somewhat stormy passage through the Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru. Scott Morrisons new-look government faced renewed accusations at the summit about the strength of Australias resolve on climate...

Economy

The US is one of the least trade-oriented countries in the world – despite laying the groundwork for today’s globalized system

Given the spate of news about international trade lately, Americans might be surprised to learn that the U.S. isnt very dependent on it. Indeed, looking at trade as a percentage of gross domestic product a metric...

Beyond the spin, beyond the handouts, here’s how to get a handle on what’s really happening on budget night

Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, TV or news websites on budget night. The quickest way to find out what...

Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility

Ivan Vladislavić is Johannesburgs literary linkman. He tells us, in the first pages of his new book, The Near North, that before cities were lit, first by gaslight and later electricity, people of means paid torchbearers...

Economist Chris Richardson on an ‘ugly’ inflation result and the coming budget

With Jim Chalmerss third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief beyond the tax cuts although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As this weeks consumer price...

Inflation is slowly falling, while student debt is climbing: 6 graphs that explain today’s CPI

Australias inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and its now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. The annual rate peaked at 7.8% in the December quarter of 2022 and is now just 3.6%, in...

Politics

US Urges China, Russia to Reject AI Control in Nuclear Arms, Align with Global Norms

Paul Dean, a senior U.S. arms control official, emphasized the critical need for China and Russia to join the U.S. in declaring that humans will always decide on the deployment of nuclear weapons, not artificial...

South Africa’s youth are a generation lost under democracy – study

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa recently painted a rosy picture in which the countrys youth democracys children had enormous opportunities for advancement, all thanks to successive post-apartheid governments led...

Sadiq Khan on track for third term as London mayor – but nearly half of Londoners dissatisfied with performance

Polls have consistently shown that the incumbent mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, appears to be on track to win a third term in office at the upcoming mayoral elections on May 2. One poll we commissioned as part of our...

Biden administration tells employers to stop shackling workers with ‘noncompete agreements’

Most American workers are hired at will: Employers owe their employees nothing in the relationship except earned wages, and employees are at liberty to quit at their option. As the rule is generally stated, either party...

Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board

To say that the Labour party is flying high in the polls is something of an understatement. But despite its consistent lead against the Tories, the opposition finds itself in a rather odd position: on the cusp of power but...

Science

IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects

About a trillion tiny particles called neutrinos pass through you every second. Created during the Big Bang, these relic neutrinos exist throughout the entire universe, but they cant harm you. In fact, only one of them is...

The Mars Sample Return mission has a shaky future, and NASA is calling on private companies for backup

A critical NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return, is in trouble. Its budget has ballooned from US$5 billion to over $11 billion, and the sample return date may slip from the end of this...

A Nasa rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilised life on Mars

While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, Nasas Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to...

The rising flood of space junk is a risk to us on Earth – and governments are on the hook

A piece of space junk recently crashed through the roof and floor of a mans home in Florida. Nasa later confirmed that the object had come from unwanted hardware released from the international space station. The 700g,...

Peter Higgs was one of the greats of particle physics. He transformed what we know about the building blocks of the universe

Peter Higgs, who gave his name to the subatomic particle known as the Higgs boson, has died aged 94. He was always a modest man, especially when considering that he was one of the greats of particle physics the area of...

Technology

Bitcoin's Next Bull Run Hinges on Key Trading Pattern Confirmation: Analysts

Cryptocurrency traders are eyeing a potential bullish reversal for Bitcoin, with analysts suggesting that validating an inverse head and shoulders pattern could propel the next leg up for the leading cryptocurrency....

Walmart Spotted with Tesla Semi in California as True Launch Date Revealed

Walmarts adoption of a Tesla Semi hit the California highways, signaling the electric trucks expanding reach. The sighting follows Teslas revelation of a late 2025 and early 2026 launch window for the highly anticipated...

Tesla Cybertruck 'Odyssey' Roars into Europe, Berlin Display Kicks Off Tour

Teslas futuristic Cybertruck made a striking debut at Berlins Mall of Berlin, marking the launch of its European tour. The event, part of the Cyber Odyssey, precedes the electric pickups journey through 24 cities as Tesla...

Altcoin Market Rally Predicted, Analysts Forecast $4 Trillion Market Cap Surge

Analysts are predicting a substantial rally in the altcoin market, with projections indicating a surge that could drive the market cap to an impressive $4 trillion. This optimistic outlook is supported by positive economic...

Shiba Inu's Remarkable 12% Surge Fueled by Record SHIB Burns, Community Momentum

Shiba Inus ascent reaches new heights as the cryptocurrency experiences a remarkable 12% surge, fueled by record-breaking SHIB burns. The surge reflects robust community engagement and underscores the dynamic nature of the...