Ōtautahi climate action experts at free event next month

Ōtautahi  - Leading climate experts will showcase their knowledge and provide latest researchrelating to the climate emergency and creating a more sustainable future on October 28.

The free event gives people the opportunity to hear from top speakers driving sustainability outcomes locally and nationally.

They include chair of the Climate Change Commission Dr Rod Carr, researcher Professor Te Maire Tau, Christchurch airport chief executive Malcolm Johns, leading academics, Christchurch City Council staff, university postgraduate students and business leaders.

The city council has set a target to halve emissions by 2030, compared with 2016-17 levels, and achieve carbon net zero emissions by 2045. Ōtautahi people interested in the future of Christchurch, from its transport systems to urban forest, should attend the event at Canterbury University.

Other guest speakers include:

•            Professor Simon Kingham, UC school of earth & environment and chief science advisor for the Ministry of Transport and Lynette Ellis, Head of Transport and Waste, Christchurch City Council on Changing travel in Ōtautahi Christchurch: how, what and why

•            Professor Bronwyn Hayward, political scientist and Director of The Sustainable Citizenship and Civic Imagination Research Group and Jane Morgan, team leader coastal hazards adaptation planning on the climate crisis: challenges for cities and opportunities for community participation, a focus on children and young people

•            Associate Professor Justin Morgenroth,  UC School of Forestry and Andrew Rutledge, head of parks, Christchurch City Council on urban forests: critical for a sustainable city

•            Dr Christina Laalaai-Tausa, Dr Dalila Gharbaoui and Dr Suli Vunibola, UC Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, on re-imagining climate crisis, resilience, and Pacific Indigenous Knowledge

•            Distinguished Professor David Schiel, UC School of Biological Sciences, on through the ordinary and extraordinary, are we loving our ocean resources to death?

•            Associate Professor Sacha McMeeking, UC Executive Director Māori, Pacific and Equity, on understanding the SDGs in the context of global and local wellbeing frameworks – He Ara Wairoa as a possible guide

•            Associate Professor Joya Kemper, UC Business School, on transitioning to a sustainable, healthy and inclusive food system

•            Hamish Avery, Director, UC Electric Power Engineering Centre and Sheralee MacDonald, innovation facilitator from Orion, on equitable energy transition for Christchurch

•            Professor Aaron Marshall, UC Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, and representatives from Zincovery, on opportunities and challenges of sustainable zinc recycling

•            Professor Matt Watson, UC Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Associate Professor Allan Scott, UC Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, and Megan Danczyk from Aspiring Materials, on building a low carbon future.