Conservation Council president talks on Australia’s hottest topic

Apr 18, 2007

Australian Conservation Council president, Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe, discussed the hottest topic of our times – climate change – in an address at the University of Wollongong on Monday night.

Professor’s Lowe’s address was part of the University’s contribution to Sustainability Week in Wollongong from 16-22 April. The University is one of the week’s major sponsors, along with Hatch, Wollongong and Wingecarribee Shire Councils, Futureworld Eco-Technology Centre, BlueScope Steel Ltd, Oceanlinx (Energetech) and Blue Circle Southern Cement.

Professor Lowe’s address was titled “A Comprehensive Response to Climate Change: Radical Solutions for Australia’s Environmental Crisis”.

Professor Lowe directed the Commission for the Future and was named Humanist of the Year in 1988 and chaired the Advisory Council that produced the first report on the State of the Australian Environment in 1996.

Professor Lowe has been a referee for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, attended the Geneva and Kyoto Conferences of the parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change and was on the Steering Committee for the UNEP Global Environmental Outlook.

On Thursday 19 April at 6pm Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Margaret Sheil will launch the UOW Energy Futures Network at the UniCentre. The UOW Energy Futures Network is a new initiative that brings together researchers from a broad range of disciplines to maximise the effectiveness of UOW’s involvement in the global effort to develop sustainable energy supply systems and to better understand the impact that the use of energy has on the environment.

Following the launch, Professor David Officer from UOW’s Intelligent Polymer Research Institute will present a talk entitled: “Shedding Light on a Sustainable Energy Future: Is Artificial Photosynthesis the Key?” Professor Officer will discuss the potential of artificial photosynthesis-based solar cell technologies and highlight the advances made at UOW and overseas.