Timothy Fridtjof Flannery (born 28 January 1956) is an Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist, conservationist, explorer, and public scientist. Having discovered more than 30 mammal species (including new species of tree kangaroos), he served as the Chief Commissioner of the Climate Commission, a Federal Government body providing information on climate change to the Australian public. On 23 September 2013, Flannery announced that he would join other sacked commissioners to form the independent Climate Council, that would be funded by the community.
Flannery is a professorial fellow at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne.
Flannery was named Australian Humanist of the Year in 2005, and Australian of the Year in 2007. Until mid-2013 he was a professor at Macquarie University and held the Panasonic Chair in Environmental Sustainability. He was also 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 COP 15. In 2015, the Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue recognized Tim Flannery for using dialogue and authentic engagement to build global consensus for action around climate change.His sometimes controversial views on shutting down conventional coal-fired power stations for electricity generation in the medium term are frequently cited in the media.