Business as Usual? Climate Change In the Global & National Spotlight

Christiana Figueres, the new Executive Secretary to the UNFCCC, will be speaking at the opening of the 6th Australia-New Zealand Climate Change & Business Conference (10-12 August, Sydney), which will also have Australian politicians putting their party plans on the table.

Christiana Figueres, the new Executive Secretary to the UNFCCC, will be speaking at the opening of the 6th Australia-New Zealand Climate Change & Business Conference (10-12 August, Sydney).

Ms Figueres will provide a keynote address outlining progress in international negotiations post Copenhagen and expectations for Mexico.

Ms Figureres will speak via live video-link from Bonn, Germany, as part of the official opening of the Conference. The Conference welcome will be presented by the Hon Kristina Keneally, Premier of New South Wales.

The opening session will set the context for the next two days of discussion which will focus on what business can do now to address climate change. It will also examine the likely policy settings post the Australian election and developments in New Zealand. The full program with topic and speaker details is available from the website.

The future of climate policy will be up for discussion at the 6th Australia-New Zealand Climate Change & Business Conference with The Hon Penny Wong (Labor), Senator Christine Milne (Greens) and Senator Simon Birmingham (Liberals) all confirmed to address the event.

New Zealand will tell its story with the Hon Dr Nick Smith also presenting.

The Hon Penny Wong and Hon Dr Nick Smith will present in person while Senators Milne and Birmingham will speak via video.

International policy will also be in the spotlight, with presentations by Christiana Figueres, the new head of the UNFCCC and Dr Ralph Sims, formerly with the IEA, reviewing the success of complementary measures overseas.

The conference theme is “Business Taking Action” and the core discussion will be around what business is doing now to address climate change and what policy settings it needs.

The 6th Australia-New Zealand Climate Change and Business is the pre-eminent climate change conference for business in this region, designed by business for business. The conference serves as the major gathering point for business leaders and chief policy makers and allows exchange of information across the Tasman. 

The 2010 conference will focus on how business is moving forward on climate change response in a time of policy uncertainty. Plenary sessions will examine:

• The potential for reduced emissions from key sectors: how and how much?
• Australian and New Zealand policy response to business requirements
• What is needed to unlock and leverage investment in low emissions technology
• Adaptation as a priority response
• The international policy framework and the potential impact on this region
• Inside China and the USA
• The power of complementary measures: what’s working internationally
• Climate change science and communicating the challenge

Additional workshops and concurrent sessions will look at practical lessons learned in specific areas, including:
• New Zealand’s implementation of an ETS,
• energy efficiency,
• NGER and Energy Efficiency reporting,
• international carbon markets,
• land use and
• cleantech

Source: www.climateandbusiness.com