Climate justice must be at the heart of Paris agreement: Mary Robinson

Mary Robinson speaking at Tuesday night's
inaugural oration presented by the
Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute.

Mary Robinson, the first female president of Ireland, gave a speech in Melbourne on March 15. Robinson, who served between 1990 and 1997, has since gone on to play an active role in international climate negotiations.

As special envoy on climate change to the UN Secretary-General, Robinson negotiated with world leaders ahead of the successful Paris climate summit in December 2015.

Through her work on climate change Robinson is an active proponent of “climate justice”, which advocates sharing the burden of mitigating and adapting to climate change between all parts of society, and particularly between developed and developing nations.

In Melbourne she addressed the growing role of climate justice in climate talks and in bringing the Paris Agreement into force. The following is a summary of Robinson’s key points.

Read the piece on The Conversation by PhD student from the Australian-German Climate and Energy College at the University of Melbourne,  Anita Talberg - “Mary Robinson: ‘climate justice’ must play a key role in the Paris Agreement.”

Academics report on 'exuberance and euphoria' of Paris

Cathy Alexander saw the Paris
agreement as a "game changer"
but could not foresee what the
Australian Government was about
to do in plumping for fossil fuels.

Our first Climate Conversation seminar for 2016 kicked off with a robust discussion from our academic delegates who attended the Paris COP21 climate conference.

 “There was exuberance, dancing on the stage, a sense of euphoria”, is how Peter Christoff describes the ambience when the gavel went down at the 2015 climate negotiations in Paris. The focus of Tuesday’s Climate Conversations, the first in MSSI’s 2016 schedule, was to reflect on the outcomes of the Paris conference and to dissect what was really achieved, what it means for Australia and the world, and how to progress from here. The expert panel consisted of four MSSI members, all of whom were on the ground in Paris, representing the University of Melbourne: Peter Christoff, Robyn Eckersley, Cathy Alexander and Don Henry. This post is a summary of the key issues raised by the panel.

Read the piece by Anita Talberg,  of the Australian-German Climate and Energy College, written for the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute - “After Paris—what now for climate policy and research?”

 

 

(“If you’re sniffing the wind, the trend of history is heading towards stronger climate action”. This was Cathy Alexander’s key message to Australian politicians.

She saw, “the Paris Agreement is a game changer for Australia, albeit a slow-burning one”, but she was not able to foresee the events of this week when the Australian Government retreated to its bunker and plumped for the fossil fuel industry.

The Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Christopher Pyne, announced creation of the Energy Resources Growth Centre aimed at driving innovation, competitiveness and productivity across the oil, gas, coal and uranium sectors.

The events and jubilation of Paris are worse than a fading memory, they have been totally forgotten – Robert McLean).