A high level public forum on Australia, China and climate change will be held at ANU on Wednesday 15 April 2009. The forum will be hosted by the ANU China Institute, ANU Climate Change Institute, China Economy and Business Program and the East Asia Forum. It will provide an important opportunity for independent dialogue between Chinese and Australian experts on issues leading up to the United Nations COP 15 Copenhagen climate change conference in December 2009.

Registration for the forum will open in mid February 2009 via the ANU Climate Change Institute website events page.

Is there a technological fix that can solve the problem of climate change? What is the cost of not acting to mitigate climate change? Does climate change represent a threat to national and global security?

Join the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges & Decisions on 10-12 March 2009. Thousands of experts within various fields of climate research from green technology, transport and energy to nature science, humanities, economics, law and security aspects of climate change will attend the Congress.

The Congress will provide a synthesis of the very latest, publicly available, scientific knowledge and technologies on climate change. The published findings (June 2009) will, after agreement with the Danish Government that is hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15), be handed over to the policy makers.

Who can participate?

Everyone can participate - scientists, politicians, companies, NGO’s, officials, assistants.

Who are the organisers?

The congress is organised by the University of Copenhagen in cooperation with the ’star alliance’ of the global university community, International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), including The Australian National University, ETH Zurich, National University of Singapore, Peking University, University of California, Berkeley, University ofCambridge, University of Copenhagen, University of Oxford, University ofTokyo and Yale University.

Who will speak?

Plenary speakers include the IPCC Chairman, Nobel Laureate Dr RK Pachauri; Lord Nicholas Stern, London School of Economics; Prof Ross Garnaut, The Australian National University; Director and Prof John Schnellburger, Potsdam Institute; Prof Dan Kammen, Berkley University; President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barosso; the Danish Prime Minister, MrAnders Fogh Rasmussen; the Danish Minister for Climate and Energy, Mrs Connie Hedegaard. See the full program…

Want to register?

See link below…

Sign up for the International Congress on Climate Change 10-12 March 2009

To learn more about the Master of Climate Change see:

http://cmbe.anu.edu.au/cw/climate/

Photo: ANU students at UNFCCC CoP 13 Climate Change Conference - Bali, Dec 2007.

Conference: Drought – Past & Future

Date: Friday 14th November (9am to 6pm); Saturday 15th November 2008 (9am to 12noon)

Venue: Hedley Bull Centre, ANU

Website: http://www.water.anu.edu.au/events/dpf/index.php

Program details: http://www.water.anu.edu.au/pdf/ANUWI_conference.pdf

Register: RSVP to Noel Chan <noel.chan@anu.edu.au> by 12 November.

This conference is the first stage of an international project funded by the ANU Water Initiative (ANUWI) that will compare drought management and planning for climate change in the world’s southern and northern temperate zones - southern Australia, southern Africa, southwest US, the Mediterranean rim (Portugal, Spain and Turkey), northern China and South America. The conference will present some of the work relevant to the Australian region and discuss the themes to be investigated in the larger project.

Conference Themes:

·          Knowledge – what has been the understanding of drought and climate variability in Australia over the past two centuries?

·          Australian drought policy – what are the recurring issues?

·          Political, economic and social risks – how have these been defined and managed in the context of droughts?

·          Contemporary case studies of Australian drought management- what do they reveal about the interactions between communities and droughts over the past two centuries?

• Australian drought management from an international perspective

Speakers on Friday 14 November

Dr Sara Beavis, Fenner School, ANU

Bruce Campbell, River Murray Water, Murray-Darling Basin Commission

Dr Tony McLeod, Murray-Darling Basin Authority

Dr Daniel Connell, Crawford School, ANU

Professor Quentin Grafton, Crawford School, ANU

Professor Brian Head, Institute of Social Science Research, University of Queensland

Professor Douglas Fisher, Dept of Law, Queensland University of Technology

Dr Nicole Graham – Dept. of Law, Macquarie University

Professor Tony McMichael, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, ANU

Dr Linda Botterill, Research School of Social Sciences, ANU

John Reid, Fenner School, ANU

Dr Sue Jackson, Tropical Ecosystem Research Centre, CSIRO

Dr Jane Doolan, Office of Water, Victorian Dept of Sustainability and the Environment

Dr Roger Pulwarty, National Integrated Drought Information System, NOAA

Speakers on Saturday 15 November

Dr John Williams, Commissioner Natural Resources Commission New South Wales

Professor Xia Jun, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing

Dr Rosalind Bark, Dept of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona

Dr Jeff Loux, University of California

Professor Rodrigo Maia, University of Porto, Portugal

Dr Karen Hussey, National Europe Centre, ANU

Prof Stephen Dovers, Fenner School, ANU

Attendance is free of charge. Please RSVP to Noel Chan, ANUWI administrator, at:- noel.chan@anu.edu.au and indicate whether you will attend both Friday and/or Saturday conference. Further enquiries to Dr Daniel Connell at: - Daniel.Connell@anu.edu.au

Climate change is rapidly becoming the defining challenge for humanity in the 21^st century. Dealing with climate change demands new types of knowledge – every bit as demanding and rigorous as traditional academic knowledge but more integrated and connected, and more closely linked to practitioners searching for solutions to the climate change challenge.

The ANU is in an exceptionally strong position to contribute to the generation of these new types of knowledge. The University’s strength in climate change research is its breadth – from fundamental climate science to economics, governance and law – and the quality and depth in these and other areas.

The CCI’s vision is to build and support a cohesive, interactive community of climate change-related researchers and teachers at the ANU.

Our mission is to contribute to climate change solutions through innovative, interdisciplinary approaches to research and teaching, drawing on the wealth of expertise across the University’s seven colleges, and to connect our work to governments, the private sector and civil society.

On this site you’ll find a who’s who of climate-related research and teaching at the ANU, a description of our core capabilities, accounts of the new and exciting interdisciplinary projects being developed under the auspices of the CCI, the latest news on our activities, the CCI product portfolio, links to related sites in Australia and around the world, and much more.

We hope that you find our website informative and enjoyable. We welcome your comments and suggestions on our work, and on its presentation on this site.

Professor Will Steffen
Executive Director
ANU Climate Change Institute
Photo:  Will Steffen August 2008 - rock art,  Arnham Land