Speaker: Will Steffen, Executive Director of ANU Climate Change Institute
Date and time: 5-7pm, Monday 23 May 2011
Location: Ann Harding Conference Centre, University Drive South, University of Canberra
Abstract: Climate change is the arguably the most pressing challenge facing contemporary society today, and places significant pressures on cities and regions as they attempt to move onto more sustainable development trajectories. This presentation will provide the context for discussing the challenges that climate change poses for cities and regions in the 21st century. The talk will begin with a short briefing on the most up-to-date scientific knowledge of climate change, describe the risks it poses for contemporary society and natural ecosystems, and explore the implications of this understanding for our response options. The talk will then turn more directly to the challenges facing Australia’s cities and regions by contrasting two pathways – one leading to a 4 C or even warmer world by the end of the century and the other transforming society to create a 2 C world – and the implications of these pathways for our cities and regions. The talk will conclude with some critical research questions that must be addressed to create a 2 C world.
Speaker: Professor Will Steffen is Executive Director of the ANU Climate Change Institute at the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, and also serves on the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee (MPCCC) and as a Climate Commissioner. He is also Co-Director of the Canberra Urban and Regional Futures (CURF) initiative, a joint venture of ANU and the University of Canberra. From 1998 to mid-2004, he served as Executive Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, based in Stockholm, Sweden. His research interests span a broad range within the fields of climate change and Earth System science, with an emphasis on incorporation of human processes in Earth System modelling and analysis; and on sustainability and climate change, with a focus on urban systems.
For more information or to register for this event, contact:
Tracy Jin Cui tracy.cui@canberra.edu.au Tel: 02-6201 2018
