Climate Futures Summit

9:00am – 4:30pm, Thursday 6 October 2022
Join us in person or virtually

From COP26 in Glasgow, through catastrophic weather events, to damning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, climate has remained an unrelenting, urgent subject over the past year. Continuing research insights and the absence of effective climate policy paint a dire picture of what our climate future might be.

But there is also momentum for change. Our new federal government gives the opportunity for a new approach. Researchers continue to innovate and develop new ideas, and we have seen industry and local communities taking real action. We know that, with urgent and ambitious change, we can safeguard our world for ourselves and future generations.

The inaugural Climate Futures Summit is our opportunity to work together, share ideas and continue to make strides towards change. Melbourne Climate Futures will bring the breadth of University of Melbourne research together with voices from policy, industry, Indigenous people, and youth that make up our rich community.

Join us for this free, one-day hybrid event to share ideas and collaborate, so that we can bring about a positive climate future.

Registrants attending in person will receive lunch and refreshments and have the opportunity to participate in interactive side events between forum sessions. Places are limited and registration by 29 September is essential.

Thursday 6 October 2022

9:30am – 4:30pm

Join us in person at Melbourne Connect, 700 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

Or join us virtually by registering below.

Register your tickets

Program

Program

9:00am – 9:30am

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. The summit will be formally opened by University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Professor Duncan Maskell and introduced by Melbourne Climate Futures Director Professor Jacqueline Peel.

9:30am – 10:30am

Climate Policy Keynote Address

This keynote address will feature an esteemed climate policy leader who will deliberate on the challenges and opportunities we face in implementing climate action and attaining a future in which it is healthy, fair, and safe to live.

10:30am – 11:00am

11:00am – 12:00pm

12:00pm – 1:00pm

Morning tea

Current sustainability trends in business and investment

Increasingly, consumers demand sustainable operations from business and industry. And in the context of the climate wars, these sectors have often led climate action.

With ever-more-urgent calls for climate action, what do businesses need to do to swiftly curb emissions and fossil fuel investment, while ensuring they are delivering the products and profits their shareholders expect?

What does the latest climate science tell us we need?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released its reports for each of its three working groups: the physical science basis; impacts, adaptation and vulnerability; and mitigation of climate change.

The findings are alarming, but demonstrate our potential to address climate change acceleration with deep and urgent action.

In this panel, lead authors from each working group report come together to discuss what needs to be done to implement the climate action we need.

1:00pm – 2:00pm

Lunch

2:00pm – 3:00pm

First Nations’ leadership on climate solutions

First Nations’ peoples and their Country are vital to sustainable, fair and equitable climate action. Indigenous knowledge, for example firestick farming, has the power to lead our collective approach to reducing emissions, promoting sustainable land management and ensuring all communities benefit from the clean energy transition.

In this panel, First Nations scholars and leaders discuss what First Nations leadership looks like, what communities need, and how to ensure their voices and interests are included as we seek to transition to a positive climate future for all.

3:00pm – 3:30pm

Afternoon tea

3:30pm – 4:30pm

Youth perspectives for innovative climate solutions

Recent years have seen a spate of climate activism from young people. And with good reason; the world we leave behind is the world our young people will continue to live in.

While we've seen policy-makers struggle to shift behaviours from the status quo, the youth voice has the potential to provide us with novel and innovative ideas for preserving a safe and equitable world for future generations to live in.

In this panel, we hear from younger voices about their hopes for the future and the changes they want to see.

Watch: Forum Opening

Watch: After morning tea sessions

Watch: After lunch session

Watch: After afternoon tea session

Speakers