13 November 2012
As Australia signs onto phase two of the Kyoto Protocol, renowned Solomon Islander Dr Alice Aruhe'eta Pollard will share her own experience of rising sea levels when she investigates the impact of climate change on the global population at an address at the University of South Australia on November 14.
Jointly presented by UniSA’s Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre and Just Sustainability Australia, the free public event will explore the challenges, such as food security and salinity, that some of our closest neighbours in the Pacific are already facing as a result of climate change.
Senior Meteorologist/Climatologist and Head of South Australian Climate Section, Bureau of Meteorology Darren Ray will also present, offering the audience a forecast on the climate trends that will influence Australia’s future.
Dr Pollard, Director of West 'Are 'Are Rokotanikeni (WARA), an International Women's Development Agency partner organisation, says governments must plan for the adverse affects of climate change at an international level.
“Rising sea levels are expected to spark the largest movement of displaced people in human history. I am witnessing this firsthand in my own country, where the land I used to cultivate for subsistence gardening as a small girl is now under water,” she says.
“Similarly, many of low-lying settlements and estuarine ecosystems in the northern parts of Australia are under threat. The geo-political challenge of rising waters and homeless populations is vast. Governments must act now to plan and prepare for the inevitable impact of climate change.”
Chair of the University of the South Pacific, Dr Pollard is one of only three Solomon Islander women with a PhD. She recently received a World of Difference 100 Award from The International Alliance for Women for her work advancing the economic empowerment of women through her role in WARA, a savings and loan organisation that provides financial services and training to women in the Solomon Islands.
The event ‘The rising tides of climate change - the challenge to prepare’ is being chaired by Dr Jacqueline Balston, Applied Climatologist and Consultant and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at UniSA and is supported by Amnesty International.
For more information and to register for this free event, click here.
To book interviews with Dr Pollard:
Contact: Louise Carnell - Hawke Centre office (08) 8302 0371 mobile 0401 693 312 email louise.carnell@unisa.edu.au
Media Contact
Rosanna Galvin office (08) 8302 0578 mobile 0434 603 457 email rosanna.galvin@unisa.edu.au
