On the 9th of March, Morphum Environmental hosted an Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ) seminar focused on climate action in the wake of the COP21 6th annual Sustainable Innovation Forum in Paris. The EIANZ seminar was held at Morphum Environmental’s inner city Melbourne office. It was an opportunity to reflect and discuss the recent COP21 forum, and predict how Melbourne will react and take action towards zero carbon emissions. Being a provider of sustainability consulting and sustainability reporting services to small and medium sized businesses in Australia, the topics discussed are highly relevant to us at Morphum Environmental. It is opportunities like this that enable us to provide the best insight to our clients, and to ensure that our methods are in line with global developments.
COP21: its successes and shortfalls
Speaking at the event were Anna Skarbek of ClimateWorks Australia, David Jenkins of National Australia Bank, Associate Professor Peter Christoff of the Melbourne Sustainability Society Institute and Dr Cathy Oke of Melbourne City Council, who provided a range of insights from their various organisations into sectors thoughts and plans for change. The seminar was hosted by Dr Timothy Richards of the Carbon Market Institute (pictured).
The COP21 deal sets a goal to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius and strives to keep temperatures at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. COP21 restores some confidence in change after the Copenhagen climate change conference six years ago failed to do so.
It was clear that all of the speakers present agreed that the COP21 conference was a success in involving every country, in particular the world powerhouses of China and the USA. However, it was of general consensus that it is not the end solution to the problem, as more needs to be done (and indeed more can be done). The outcome of the conference is more of a guideline for nations rather than a strict set of rules. This made it a lot easier for the bigger emitters of carbon dioxide to come to the party, and it was agreed that it has gone a long way in setting a global climate change agenda and has paved a positive direction towards change that will hopefully continue to improve as technology and awareness increases.
What are the implications for Australia?
The aim at home is to make Australia carbon neutral. Presenters explained how councils and large organisations are slowly making the move towards these goals, and discussed projects that are arising to decrease carbon emissions.
The EIANZ seminar overall was a success. It was great to bring together like minded people to discuss the issues that will affect Melbourne in the near future in a positive, collaborative atmosphere. We look forward to similar opportunities for collaboration in future.
We specialise in sustainability consulting services that are affordable for small and medium sized businesses. Our sustainability consultants are experts in environmental management, sustainability reporting and metrics, stakeholder engagement and sustainable business practices advice. Talk to us today about how the outcomes of COP21 might affect your business in future.
Phone: 03 9111 5649 | Email: info@morphum.com
