Hello again.  I’m sure you’ve been hearing about climate change this week: on TV, over the radio, in blogs, in Parliament, at home, at school and at work.  With the Copenhagen Summit  starting yesterday (7 December), the talk will only get louder.  You can follow what is happening at Copenhagen over the next two weeks from an Australian Government perspective at Australia at Copenhagen.

Climate change is a global problem, and yes we need to find a global solution, but we also need to start doing something here in Australia to turn our greenhouse gas emissions around. 

Taking meaningful action here in Australia, where we have the highest greenhouse gas emissions per capita of any major country (in 2005, we were edged out only by Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Luxembourg), would be a powerful example to the rest of the world about what can be achieved.  I recently explored this thought further in an opinion piece that I wrote for ABC Science and in a speech I gave in Melbourne last week (3 December).

The first step you can make to take action on climate change is to arm yourself with information and ask the questions you need to make sure you understand the issue.  A starting place is a report titled: Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions, from an international science meeting that I attended in March in Copenhagen.  Just last week, the Copenhagen Diagnosis: Climate Science Report was released with the latest findings on climate change science.  Another great place to start is the UK Met Centre.

Other news

Since I’ve last updated this blog, I delivered two invited presentations at the World Science Forum to the world’s top scientists and scientific policy makers.  The forum is held once every two years in Budapest, and is sponsored by UNESCO and the International Council for Science.  The first presentation was on Women in Science and was based on a recent report on the status of Australian Women in Science.  Briefly put, women in Australia are entering most, but not all, areas of science in increasing numbers, but they are under-represented at the top levels of science.  I also reported in Budapest Australia’s foresight activities to help prepare Australia for the future using science.  Follow the links to these presentations to see the slides I showed at the World Science Forum.

On 26 November, I was involved in a discussion about food security and the role of science and research in the agricultural sector at the National Press Club.  Joining me at the roundtable, titled Rural R&D Challenges 2030:Confronting Climate, Food, Water and Productivity were:

• Reverend Tim Costello, AO, Chief Executive, World Vision Australia;
• Dr Brian Fisher, AO, Economist and former head of ABARE;
• Mr Enzo Allara, Chair, Council of Rural Research and Development Corporations Chair; and  
• Ms Barb Madden, Queensland Farmer.

The lively discussion was facilitated by Tony Jones from ABC’s Lateline and you can check out the footage here.

Last Thursday l travelled to Melbourne to present a keynote address on climate change sponsored by Australian Davos Connection, The Victorian Employer’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) and L.E.K. Consulting.  My speech titled Changing the World: Science and leadership before and after Copenhagen is now up on my website for you to read.  You can also view the slides that accompanied my address.

Later this week, I’ll be attending an Advisory Board meeting for the Defence Science and Technology Organisation as well as attending a graduation ceremony for Australians receiving doctorates in science.

Quite a bit is happening over the next few weeks, so don’t forget to check in from time to time.