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National
Press Club - Telstra Address (Australia)
December 14th, 2005
Professor Ian Lowe
President of Australian Conservation Foundation and
author of Living in the Hothouse: How Global Warming
Affects Australia will answer the question;
The Australian
Conservation Foundation and The Natural Edge Project
proudly present one of Australia’s foremost
scientific authorities on energy and the environment,
Professor Ian Lowe, to address the issue of energy
choices and Australia’s global warming solutions.
There is no doubt that human-induced climate change
is real. The Federal Government recognised the seriousness
of the problem in the July 26th 2005 report “Climate
Change: Risk and Vulnerability”, released by
the Australian Greenhouse Office. Senator Ian Campbell,
the Federal Environment Minister, stated, “It's
becoming obvious that climate change is occurring…
there could be more cyclones, there could be more
storms, there could be more floods.”
 A
greater frequency of natural disasters is only one
of the climate change consequences for Australia.
Other consequences include more severe droughts, a
dryer Murray-Darling Basin River System, loss of biodiversity
and our natural treasures such as the Great Barrier
Reef, a range of heath risks from pollution and an
increase in global environmental refugees. The Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change has called for 60% reductions
in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Former Environment
Minister David Kemp, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
and Australia’s Chief Scientist Robin Batterham
have publicly acknowledged this science and the urgency,
yet no targets have been set. How should the Government
act? Without committing to the Kyoto Protocol, will
the new Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development
deliver change? Is nuclear power really an option?
In this address to the National Press Club, Professor
Ian Lowe will address how Australia can achieve deep
cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, create jobs, and
a stronger economy.
 Professor
Ian Lowe began his involvement in international and
Australian activities related to environment, climate
change and energy with postgraduate work in Nuclear
Physics at the University of York. He has been a member
of the National Energy Research, Development and Demonstration
Council, Director of the Commission for the Future,
and chaired the advisory council that produced the
first independent national report on the state of
the environment in 1996. Professor Lowe was a referee
for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
and has attended the Geneva and Kyoto conferences
of the parties to the Framework Convention on Climate
Change.
Professor Lowe was made an Officer of the Order of
Australia in 2001 for services to science and technology
in the area of environmental studies. In 2002 he was
awarded a Centenary Medal for contributions to environmental
sciences and the Eureka Prize for the promotion of
science. His contributions have also been recognised
with the Prime Minister's Environment Award for Outstanding
Individual Achievement and the Queensland Premier's
Millennium Award for Excellence in Science. Professor
Lowe was named Humanist of the Year in 1988.
Currently he is an Emeritus Professor based at Griffith
University, the President of Queensland Academy of
the Arts and Sciences, a consultant to the CSIRO Division
of Sustainable Ecosystems, and recently appointed
President of the Australian Conservation Foundation.
Professor Lowe is advisor, mentor and co-patron
of The Natural Edge Project.
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