Working to keep 'cool' Melbourne cool

"Lifeboat Cities" by
 Brendan Gleeson.

Cities have been described as society’s “lifeboats” by the director of Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute.

Professor Brendan Gleeson wrote about the crucial role cities will play in our future in his 2010 book, “Lifeboat Cities” and now a forthcoming book adopts a similar theme.

The book, “Cool Melbourne: Towards a Sustainable and Resilient Zero Carbon City in a Hotter World” discusses how Melbourne can endure and prosper in a hotter world.

A story published by The Guardian headed: “Cool Melbourne: whichever party wins the election, climate change is urgent” argues cities must urgently plan for a zero-carbon economy to protect themselves from the worst effects of global warming.

The Guardian explains that the three experts, writing in this edited book extract are is the deputy director of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, Professor John Wiseman; the professor of atmospheric science at the University of Melbourne, Professor David Karoly, and a research associate at the University of Melbourne, Alexander Sheko.

The story is based on an edited extract from the chapter in the forthcoming ebook “Melbourne: What Next?”

We're asking the wrong questions about geoengineering - Prof Gardiner

"We are asking the wrong
 questions" - Prof Stephen
Gardiner.

Stephen Gardiner has argued that we are asking the wrong questions about geoengineering.

The Professor of Philosophy and Ben Rabinowitz Endowed Professor of Human Dimensions of the Environment at the University of Washington, Seattle, says the traditional question such as “Are you for it or agin’ it?” obscures much of what is a stake and trivialises the conversation.

Listening to the more than 45 minute lecture it was abundantly clear that nothing is ethically clear, in any sense, about geoengineering.

With Prof Gardiner holding the audience’s hand, we took a journey down the slippery slope of ethics and morals that must first be addressed when discussing, and considering, geoengineering.

Prof Gardiner spoke at an event in the Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room at The University of Melbourne as a guest of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute (MSSI) .

The topic for his lecture was: “If a Climate Emergency is Possible, is Everything Permitted? Reflections on some ethically slippery arguments for geoengineering”.

His book, “A perfect moral storm; the ethical tragedy of climate change” ( a favourite of MSSI deputy director, Prof John Wiseman) provides an accessible view of Prof Gardiner’s values.