SMC BRIEFING: Climate change and the Pacific

With a warmer future set to hit our Pacific neighbours hardest, is there still a chance to turn the tide?

The first ever conference on climate change and the Pacific, ‘In the Eye of the Storm‘,  is being held this week in Wellington at Victoria University.

Eye of the StormThe conference brings together Pacific community representatives, scientists, artists, politicians and human rights advocates to discuss how the Pacific will respond to climate change across a range of fields.

The Science Media Centre held an online briefing with world-leading experts at the conference, offering an insight on the conference itself as well as the issues of climate impacts in the Pacific, mitigation options and the role renewable energy might play in the Pacific.

SPEAKERS:

  • Prof James Renwick – Professor of Physical Geography, Victoria University Wellington
  • Prof Will Steffen –  Climate Council of Australia and Prof Emeritus, Climate Change Institute, Australian National University.
  • Prof Ralph Sims  – School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Massey University

You can review the briefing here (note: due to a recording error the first few minutes of the briefing are missing).

Coverage of the conference includes:

New Zealand Herald: Pacific nations desperate for climate action
Stuff.co.nz: Challenges facing Kiribati indicate what climate change could mean at its worst
RNZ: Pacific urged to act as global model for sustainability
RNZ: Impact of forest fires on Papua on climate change agenda
RNZ: Eye of the storm – climate change in the Pacific
RNZ: Kiribati calls on billionaires for help
RNZ: Kiribati looks at engineering solutions to climate problems