Climate Change and Human Rights: Australia’s Next Big Challenge
Join Deputy Premier Hon. Dr Susan Close MP to explore how we can find a sustainable future together. This oration seeks to answer the many pressing climate change questions that are not aired in the mainstream. Will we let the last decades of our opportunity to make a difference slip through our fingers?
Orator: Hon. Dr Susan Close MP, Deputy Premier, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, Member for Port Adelaide.
Date: 2 November 2023
Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm (including Q&A)
Address: Elder Hall, University of Adelaide, North Terrace, SA 5000
This event is presented in partnership with the University of Adelaide Law School and the Law Society of South Australia.
Dr Susan Close MP
Susan Close is the State Member for Port Adelaide and was elected on the 11th of February 2012.
Susan has lived on the LeFevre Peninsula for twenty years with Declan and their two children and is passionate about representing the people in her community.
Before entering Parliament, Susan was an executive in the SA Environment Department. She previously worked at the University of Adelaide running student services and holds a PhD from Flinders University.
Susan held several portfolios during the Weatherill Labor Government, including Minister for Education and Minister for Innovation and Automotive Transformation.
Abstract
The defining feature of this epoch is humanity. The Anthropocene is the era of our species dominating and shaping this planet, ushering in the sixth extinction event, changing our climate and putting ourselves ahead of all other species. The question of our time is what changes in how we conduct ourselves are needed to make this emerging epoch one in which we can continue to live and proper? Is our technology powerful enough, is our ingenuity at solving problems sufficient, and can strengthening environmental protections turn the tide? Or do we need a reconsideration of what matters to us, of what our modern culture values, and could a deeper understanding of how humans have lived in partnership with the Earth rather than in dominion over it be the missing ingredient? Why does a politician ask these questions? This oration will argue that if these questions are not aired in the mainstream, we will let the last decades of our opportunity to make a difference slip through our fingers. Drawing on examples of hope the Deputy Premier will discuss how we can find a sustainable future together.