Tuesday 24th November 2009, 6:00pm for 6:30pm

@ Copland Theatre, Economics and Commerce Building, University of Melbourne (Gate 12 Royal Parade; Melways 43:F3)

More info:
http://www.public-policy.unimelb.edu.au/events/hamer_oration.html

Grattan Institute invites you to a discussion with two prominent thinkers in climate change policy and industry; Mr Blair Comley, Deputy Secretary, Commonwealth Department of Climate Change and Mr Alex Wyatt, CEO Climate Bridge, a leading organisation in the funding of greenhouse gas reduction projects in china. Please join us on Monday 30 November, to hear their views about what the likely outcomes of Copenhagen might mean for Australia.

Date
Monday 30 November 2009

Time
5.30pm arrival and registration
6.00pm – 7.00pm seminar

Venue
Treasury Theatre
Ground Level
1 Macarthur Street
Melbourne VIC 3002

Registration
Please register early
Registration closes on Friday 27 November 2009

About the Speakers
Blair Comley is a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Climate Change. Blair has executive oversight for the design and implementation of the emissions trading system and matters related to renewable energy, emissions inventory and projections. Previously Blair held a range of senior positions in the Treasury including as General Manager of the Business Tax Division, Indirect Tax Division, Macroeconomic Policy Division and the Debt Management Review Team. Blair also represented Australia for three years on economic matters at the OECD and was the Acting Chief Executive Officer the Australian Office of Financial Management with responsibility for managing the Australian Government’s debt and related derivative portfolio.

Alex Wyatt is the CEO of Climate Bridge. Climate Bridge is one of the largest firms in China involved in organising greenhouse gas emission reduction projects, financed with European-based carbon credits. Alex has an on-the-ground perspective of carbon emission reduction and sustainability in China, and is a regular speaker on the international environmental conference circuit. Prior to founding Climate Bridge, Alex worked in the Shanghai office of McKinsey and Company, where he worked with state-owned and multi-national companies in the Chinese transportation sector, undertaking a number of different projects to help optimise rail, sea and trucking networks throughout China. Alex has also worked for the Boston Consulting Group and Hearne Scientific Software, where he helped to start and manage a variety of new business ventures. In 2009, he was included in the Advance Asia 50, recognising him as one of the fifty most influential Australians living in Asia.

For further information please telephone 03 8344 3637 or visit our website www.grattaninstitute.edu.au or for registration

Inaugural Professorial Lecture:

Death, Desire, Sin, Redemption: Climate Change and the Rationality of Environmental Law

Wed 04/11/2009
6:00 PM – 7:15 PM

Professor Lee Godden

Climate change suggests limits to civilisation and impending ‘Death’ of species and displacement of people. Western civilisations have sought to overcome limits through colonisation and industrialisation. Yet, such consumption and ‘Desire’ are integral to climate change. Divisions exist at International Law in efforts to curb ‘sinful’ consumption and mitigate global warming through targets, trading and offsets. Just how Law should respond to climate change in an era of corporatist states and reflexive law is examined. The lecture identifies the need to reshape the institutions of public law to facilitate an integrated governance framework for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

This Inaugural Professorial Lecture will draw on Professor Lee Godden’s wide range of interests and expertise. Professor Godden is Director of the Centre for Resources, Energy and Environmental Law at Melbourne Law School and has expertise in environmental law, natural resources management, water law, climate law, property law and indigenous peoples’ land rights.

Please register your attendance here

Venue Melbourne Law School
Address 185 Pelham Street Carlton
Contact Person Dianne Costello
Contact Details 8344 1153

After many years of debate, climate policy has moved squarely into the implementation stage. The next six months will be critical, both in Australia and internationally, in determining what policies will be put in place and how effective they will be in containing global warming. As a contribution to rational, evidence-based debate the Melbourne Climate Policy Forum (MCPF) is hosting six briefing seminars on the key policy issues facing Australia, set in the context of the global decision-making process.

Each of the briefings will provide an assessment of current knowledge and its implications for the policy issue in question, based in part on the ongoing research activities of the MCPF partners. Following the briefing, two distinguished external discussants will review the briefing provided, comment on the policy issue and introduce general discussion.

View the flyer at http://www.sustainable.unimelb.edu.au/fi…

Further information at www.vu.edu.au/mcpforum

Visit http://www.britishcouncil.org/au.htm for more details.

Climate Change Law: Challenges and Future Directions

A panel of climate change experts will be giving presentations on international law and climate change; refugee law and climate change and the Garnaut Review, followed by a panel discussion and question-and-answer session.

This seminar provides a rare opportunity to engage with experts working at the cutting edge of this important field.
Please note that this seminar is being held as part of the Melbourne Law School’s Environmental Law subject.
Bookings essential as places are limited!

DATE: Friday 30 October 2009
TIME: 11.10 pm – 1pm
VENUE: Room 102, 1th floor, Melbourne Law School, 185 Pelham Street, Carlton

A location map can be found at http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/LawSchoolS…

RSVP: please RSVP Anne Kallies as soon as possible as places are limited (03) 8344 6938 or  law-creel at unimelb.edu.au

View the Flyer here.

9am – 5pm, Wednesday 25th November 2009
Melbourne Business School, 200 Leicester Street, Carlton

Environmental issues, from climate change to water catchment management to the devastation wreaked by bushfires, tsunamis and hurricanes, are crucial issues for governments around the world. There is a growing need to find novel ways to deal more effectively with these issues using collaborative approaches. This symposium brings together local and international experts on this topic to describe contemporary research on collaborative approaches to natural resource management, and to discuss ways forward in meeting the governing challenges related to these issues.

This one day event will be of interest to anyone concerned with environmental issues, and specifically to those working in policy development and service delivery, and to public policy researchers.
Registration for this event is $150 (inc GST) which included morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.

For more information, or to register, please direct your browser to:
 http://www.public-policy.unimelb.edu.au/…

‘Pedal back” is a part of the 350.org day of global climate action. This Saturday, YOU and a lot of BIKES will fill the streets and become part of this global movement against climate catastrophe.

THE DETAILS
What: A mass fun-filled bike ride through Melbourne
Meet: This Sat, 10.30am, Melbourne Museum, Rathdowne St entrance
Bring: Your bike (or a borrowed one!)
Wear: Yellow (and a smile!)
For: Pedal Back to 350, a mass ride through the city, culminating in HUMAN SIGN formation, music and speakers at Alexander Gardens
Followed by: FANTASTIC concert at Ceres -’ Sounds of 350′. $8 entry.

This is the third conversation in our series, Climate change: culture of transition. The series is a follow-up to the publication of Golden Years: Grounds for Hope.

In this seminar, Spirituality and the earth, we continue to explore our response to climate change. We look at the intimate relationship between our spirituality and the earth. As a starting point, we draw on the inspiration of Fr Thomas Berry who died on 1st June. He was an outstanding thinker in ecological theology and his writings opened new windows for us. Three speakers to start discussion: Jim Bowler, Geoff Lacey and Jan Watson.

Recommended reading in advance:

Thomas Berry 1990, The dream of the earth. Veronica Brady 2003, Journey into the land, in Changing places: re-imagining Australia, ed. John Cameron, pp. 264-271. Thomas Merton 1968, Conjectures of a guilty bystander, part 3.

PROGRAM
1.55 Registration – 4.40 Meeting closes.

Access: The Monastery Hall is next to St Francis’ Church, behind the Pastoral Centre: close to Melbourne Central Station and tram routes. Enter from Lonsdale St.

A contribution to cover costs will be appreciated.

ENQUIRIES: Geoff Lacey (9489 4784) [ glacey at unimelb.edu.au]; or Annette Atkinson (9381 4505) [ jeffann at bigpond.net.au].