In 2023, the need for urgent transformative climate action is beyond dispute. But getting there will require hard decisions, difficult trade-offs, and determined leadership.
To achieve the significant task of transforming our energy systems, we must address issues of law, economy, land use, and more, to ensure the shift is made justly, safely, and equitably.
Furthermore, with extreme weather events occurring with more frequency and severity, we need to put in place the systems and resources to address the oncoming challenges – as well as those already on our doorstep – of a changed and changing climate.
At the 2023 Climate Futures Summit, we put the challenges of transition front and centre. Join Melbourne Climate Futures and our esteemed speakers for a day of unflinching discussion, with the goal of sharing and developing the solutions we need to transition speedily to a positive climate future.
Learn more by watching sessions from the 2022 Climate Futures Summit
Event details
Tuesday 10 October 2023
9:00am – 5:00pm
Thank you to those who attended the Climate Futures Summit 2023 online and at Melbourne Connect.
Program
As discussions around addressing the cost of the climate crisis develop, the balance between public and private-sector responsibilities is under greater scrutiny. What role should the public and private sectors play in financing our response to and mitigation of the climate crisis? Should geography factor into financial obligations? What does an effective climate finance framework look like?
11:15am - 12:15pm
Leadership, government and climate governance
12:30pm - 1:30pm
The human cost of a warming world
The climate crisis will intensify a range of health and wellbeing concerns, which will bear economic, as well as human, costs. Gender, age, culture, wealth and a range of other factors all play a significant part in our individual experiences of climate change. How can we protect our physical and mental health in a warming world?
1:30pm -2:30pm
Lunch
2:30pm – 3:30pm
Envisioning Australia and the region’s energy future
We know the transition away from fossil fuels is fundamental to the climate solution. As we urgently move away from carbon-producing energy, where can Australians expect their energy to be sourced in five years… ten years… or fifty? With green energy fundamentally connected with land use, what ethics must we navigate to responsibly, justly and equitably transition to green energy?
Paying for the climate crisis
9:00am – 9:20am
Forum Opening
Join us at Melbourne Connect from 9am, as we honour the traditional custodians of the land on which we work, study and collaborate with a Welcome to Country.
9:30am – 10:30am
Biodiversity, oceans and climate
The climate crisis is a complex puzzle. While disparate, biodiversity, water systems and the climate are inextricably related to each other and to our planet’s health. If each area is addressed effectively, the combined result has the potential to be greater than the sum of its parts. How can the solutions to these distinct, but connected, issues complement each other to create robust sustainable solutions?
10:30am – 11:15am
Morning tea
3:45pm – 4:45pm
Amid the complexity of dismantling decades-old energy production systems, governments must navigate necessary seismic shifts to economic and tax systems, judicial structures, and foreign relations. As we approach COP28, how do we ensure they ethically and transparently meet our challenges and commitments under the Paris Agreement? How do we suggest our leaders justly resolve the vast range of conflicting national needs while ensuring a swift transition to a positive climate future?