Natalie Kyriacou never expected her Parliament House press conference to go viral. But it did.
You've probably seen it. A clip widely shared across Instagram and TikTok where she speaks frankly about climate change. "Just because you don't understand the science, doesn't mean it's not real," she said.
Her words came from an underlying sense of frustration. I asked her who she was trying to reach with those words at the press conference. "It was directed at politicians," she said. "and I don't take it back either."
View this post on Instagram
As an activist, she watches as every day, everywhere our world is governed by political leaders that do not have science competency. People who make decisions without having scientific backgrounds of their own – whilst also rejecting the scientific consensus of those who do.
"If you accept gravity is real, why aren't you accepting that climate science is real?"
Kyriacou is an award-winning environmentalist, charity director, author and Medal of the Order of Australia recipient. She is someone who has dedicated her life to fighting for a cleaner and greener world for us all. Her book, Nature's Last Dance, has inspired her upcoming talk at Bundanon's Make Good Festival, Wild Against the Odds.
"If you accept gravity is real, why aren't you accepting that climate science is real?"
For someone who stares the deepest and most insidiously terrifying aspects of our climate crisis in the face on a daily basis, Kyriacou is radically optimistic. It is hard not to feel buoyed, her effervescence is contagious. When I asked her what it means to be "against the odds" her answer was surprisingly bright.
"I think it means finding the stories of heroism, of resilience, of joy, of success," she said. "The stories of people that are fighting every day to protect wildlife, the stories of quirky species that most people don't know about it. It's a rebellion to share those stories with the world."
Kyriacou's approach to environmentalism has alway centred on one core tenet: refusing to accept that environmental destruction is inevitable. Instead she looks for new ways find joy and wonder in the world. She says that after research and writing Nature's Last Dance, she has more hope for our future than ever. What was set to be a book about the extinction crisis, ended up a comedic tale that shows a vision for a bright future, and the extraordinary people who work to make that future a reality. It was the people she met along the way that opened her eyes to how much work is being done every single day.
"I interviewed a 12 year old girl who made a promise to protect an owl, the Tasmanian masked owl," she shares. "She works every day to fulfil that promise. She spends her days after school showing adults around the forest and teaching them why it's important to protect. She's now a citizen scientist that works with the Bob Brown foundation."
View this post on Instagram
That's not to say the situation we are now in is not a grave one. We are at a precipice, and every day we are closer to falling over the edge. Warming is not slowing down, our oceans are becoming more acidic, the polar caps are melting. All this is leading to the extinction of hundreds of animals that are critical to preserving the ecosystems that keep our planet alive.
"Species do go extinct that is a natural part of life," says Kyriacou. "The problem that we have at the moment is that they are going extinct at a rate that is between 110,000 times what is a normal background extinction rate."
But with the right policy changes, these threats can change very quickly. During the 1980s, humpback whales were functionally extinct. Then in 1982 there was a moratorium on commercial whaling. Now in 2026 we have so many humpback whales that you can easily spot entire pods from the East Coast shores. Nature is more resilient than we realise, this is the story Kyriacou thinks more people need to hear.
"There's so many crises we focus on. But we don't stop and celebrate the successes, and that means we're actually not learning from them," she said. "We're not sharing these stories so that we can apply the learnings to future efforts to achieve success. But also we need to pat ourselves on the back and acknowledge some victories."
"I saw people that felt that our challenges were too vast, that the world's too broken to fix. It's not."
Stories around environmentalism so often just focus of doom and gloom. Literally. Earlier this year the Doomsday Clock moved closer than its ever been to midnight. It's a mounting pressure that can force people to switch off or tap out.
"I saw people turning away from environmental issues. I saw division. I saw people that felt that our challenges were too vast, that the world's too broken to fix. It's not."
But it is undeniably hard when they feel as though the full weight of this exhausting crisis is on them, while corporations and policy makers to continue to shirk their own responsibilities. It is hard for the average person to diligently wash out their yoghurt cups for the recycling bin while watching yet another oil spill decimate local ocean life.
Kyriacou says the frustration is valid, that Australia is in a uniquely unfair position, and "poor policy" is to blame. "I think to live in modern Australia is to experience the miracle of becoming poorer in a country that is, by almost much every reasonable measure, absurdly rich," she says.
She calls many of the decisions made by our current politicians for what they are – arrogant. She's right. If you plan to disagree with the majority of the world's scientists and economists on environmental conservation and improving living standards, without having the same level of subject matter expertise, it's hubris. Plain and simple.
"I think poor policy is usually the result of policy makers not consulting effectively with with scientists. Any reasonable and lasting change needs to involve community scientists and activists."
When asked what is the first thing she would change right now at a policy level, she didn't miss a beat. "I would take on fossil fuel subsidies."
"We put billions of dollars into environmentally harmful subsidies. We subsidise fossil fuel extraction, pesticide use, fertiliser use and a number of activities that are harmful to the planet. I would switch them up and start incentivising activities that restore and protect nature."
"Why is it easier to destroy a forest than it is to protect it?"
She says that until we fix this core issue, responsibility cannot be placed solely on individuals. Undoubtedly, the pressure needs to be on corporations and governments.
At the same time she believes that we should all aspire to live more gently, and in way that is in tune with the Earth. But most of all, she says we need to embrace our curiosity, something that she says is one of the most powerful tools in environmentalism.
"Curiosity is the antidote to division and to aggression," she says. "It helps us enjoy the wonder around us and want to understand why things are the way they are. It makes us feel joy and love and tragedy, makes us laugh, makes us feel connected to issues."
"But curiosity can also mean challenging systems, curiosity about who do these political systems work for? Who does this economy work for? Why aren't we protecting species? Why is it easier to destroy a forest than it is to protect it?"
Natalie Kyriacou's Wild Against The Odds talk is on 31 May as part of Bundanon's Make Good Festival
