Climate Change 2019: Why we have a climate emergency

The climate change narrative is changing rapidly. As evidence increases that the impacts and risks of climate change are with us now and are accelerating, the words “crisis” and “emergency” are often connected with climate change. This talk will describe why we indeed have a climate emergency – worsening extreme weather, the danger of climate tipping points, and the enormous and very rapid decarbonisation challenge required to deal with this emergency. We’ll also explore the longer-term Earth System perspective on the emergency, and why the ‘point of no return’ likely lies within the next decade.

Will Steffen is an Earth System scientist. He is a Councillor on the publicly-funded Climate Council of Australia that delivers independent expert information about climate change. He is also an Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University (ANU); Canberra, a Senior Fellow at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Sweden; and a member of the Anthropocene Working Group. From 1998 to mid-2004, Steffen was Executive Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, based in Stockholm. His research interests span a broad range within Earth System science, with an emphasis on sustainability and climate change.