Mentor Spotlight: Janice Baird
We step into the inspiring journey of Janice Baird, the visionary founder of Earth & Every. With a background spanning law, environmental science, and international relations, Janice brings a fresh and powerful perspective on environmental advocacy.
Earth & Every stands out for its dedication to making a positive impact on biodiversity, water, and climate change. It exemplifies the importance of collaboration, knowledge sharing, and an open-minded approach in addressing the ongoing challenges our world is facing.
In this article, Janice shares the compelling story behind founding Earth & Every, a journey fueled by maternal inspiration and a profound desire to leave a biodiverse and healthy planet for future generations. From addressing "big picture problems" to protecting smaller creatures, Janice provides insights into Earth & Every's advocacy strategies and the interlinked nature of biodiversity and climate issues. She also emphasizes the unique perspectives the legal field can offer to not-for-profit organizations, stressing the importance of amplifying voices in policy and law-making processes.
1. Your background spans a range of disciplines, including law and environmental science. How has this diverse expertise influenced your approach to environmental advocacy?
At Stanford, I started as an environmental engineering major, then switched to earth sciences, and finally graduated with a degree in international relations. I went on to complete a law degree at Sydney University. These days, it feels like I’ve come full circle. The diversity of my academic background influences my approach to environmental advocacy by giving me a healthy respect for the complexity of the decision-making process and the need to adopt a multi-disciplinary approach for effective environmental advocacy.
When decision-makers consider projects that are likely to have a significant impact on environmental matters, the issues at stake are often complex. For example, a proposal to build a port in a sensitive coastal area may require knowledge of underwater acoustics, marine mammal ecology, and civil engineering. A proposal to discharge wastewater into a river may call for knowledge of water quality, hydrology, and turtle experts!
I am comfortable not knowing the answers and asking for help!
2. Founding Earth & Every must have been a significant undertaking. Can you share the story behind the inception of the organization and the driving force that led you to establish it?
I started Earth & Every when I was a mother with a young child. I’ve always felt that we are privileged to share this planet with so many incredible creatures and that we need to respect that.
After giving birth to my son, I felt even more strongly that the most important heritage we leave our kids is a biodiverse and healthy planet to live on. A few years ago, over the Christmas holidays, my son had a restless night. After soothing him back to sleep, I read an article about a gas pipeline that had been proposed in the middle of a marine sanctuary in WA. There were endangered whales and turtles onsite.
I felt outraged and heartbroken at the prospect of this place being destroyed. So I emailed all the NGOs I knew about the project to ask them to take action. But they were all closed for the holidays. The news article stayed with me. I felt so helpless and angry. And then I decided to get to work. I read the environmental reports. I got back in touch with friends from law school and NSW Young Lawyers.
It had been years since we’d spoken, but their passion for the environment had remained unchanged. Together, we put together a submission seeking protection of the whales and turtles in the area. We had a successful result. We took on another case and had another successful result. Even when we lost, we learned from our mistakes and got better. More people joined us, which led us to where we are today.
3. Your role involves both addressing "big picture problems" like climate change and protecting smaller creatures. How do you approach the balance between these scales, and how does Earth & Every integrate both aspects into its advocacy for regulatory best practices?
Little creatures are a mighty force for conservation. Often, when you protect them, you address “big picture problems” like climate change too. For example, if you want to save a koala, you’ll probably need to save a forest. If you save that forest, it is also powerful climate action because forests take in carbon from the air and store it in wood, plant matter, and under the soil.
The issues are often interrelated as the construction of fossil fuel projects like coal mines and coal seam gas developments often involve large areas of land clearing. So if you stop a coal mine, you are often saving the habitat of many species.
Environmental advocacy is increasing in complexity as we face multiple planetary crises at the same time – the climate crisis, the biodiversity crisis, and, increasingly, a water crisis. At Earth & Every, our approach is that these crises must be solved together and that we must remember the little creatures that also share this planet with us.
3. Based on your work, how do you see the current intersection of climate change and biodiversity issues, and what strategic approaches do you believe are essential in addressing these challenges?
Biodiversity and climate issues are increasingly becoming more interlinked. Strategically, as environmentalists, we cannot afford to only focus on single issues because doing so may inadvertently tip the balance in the wrong direction.
And yet, as environmental regulation becomes more complex, it is difficult to be an expert in all areas. In the last two weeks, Australia has had new policies and legislation establishing a new nature repair market, creating a new capacity investment scheme for the national electricity market, and expanding the water trigger. To avoid a narrow approach to issues, we have to share knowledge, be open to new ideas, and work together.
4. Given your extensive experience across the legal field, from working with the Australian Energy Market Commission to the Attorney General and Justice Department, how has your journey in writing and implementing environmental laws shaped your perspective on regulatory best practices?
My journey has instilled in me a strong belief that regulatory best practice is possible and that we should never settle for less than transparent, accountable, and just application of environmental laws.
Community groups play a vital part in ensuring regulatory best practice. First, civic participation increases the chances of decisions being made that serve the wider public good. Second, the information provided by community groups, including citizen scientists, plays an important role in ensuring that the information upon which decisions are based, is comprehensive and accurately assesses risks to the environment. Third, the active participation of community groups increases the accountability of public officials to exercise their powers with integrity and fairness.
5. As one of our mentors, you bring a wealth of experience in interdisciplinary problem-solving. How do you see collaboration and mentorship contributing to the success of climate-focused initiatives, and what unique perspectives do you think the legal field can offer to organizations in the not-for-profit sector?
As a founder of a start-up, I know how hard it is to start from scratch. Mentorship and collaboration play a critical role in accelerating and improving the chances of success of new initiatives. We are all part of the same movement and we should help each other where we can.
Law is an important tool for change and affects so many aspects of the environment, including biodiversity, water, and the climate. If you are working in the environmental not-for-profit sector, it is important that your perspective is heard when new policies and laws are being made. Your voice counts!
If you are interested in becoming a mentor with Subak Australia, send us an email at australia@subak.org