MEDIA ALERT
United Nations Climate Change Conference - COP28
COP 28 Dubai – Experts from La Trobe University are available to discuss and provide analysis about COP 28, being held in Dubai, 30 November - 12 December, 2024.
Professor of Climate Change Adaption
Director of the La Trobe Climate Change Adaptation Lab
Contact: L.Rickards@latrobe.edu.au
Professor Rickards was a Lead Author with the Australasia chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Sixth Assessment Report on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.
In relation to COP28, Professor Rickards can talk to:
- Importance of a collective, concerted approach to climate change adaptation;
- What exactly is climate change adaptation and how do we do it; and
- What is meant by climate change vulnerability and how is it shifting.
Professor Rickards says: “With climate change impacts cascading and compounding, serious adaptation efforts are needed to sustain anything we want to achieve, including the hard work of urgently decarbonising economies. COP28 has to galvanise large scale, collective adaptation or the window of opportunity will close”.
Read more of Professor Rickards commentary: 'Too hard to get to work': climate change is making workers' lives more difficult (theconversation.com)
Co-director of the La Trobe Research Centre for Future Landscapes
Contact: J.Radford@latrobe.edu.au
Dr Radford’s research explores the nexus between biodiversity conservation, sustainable agriculture, and climate change, using natural capital accounting as a tool to empower famers to improve their productivity and sustainability. The La Trobe Research Centre for Future Landscapes aims to find solutions and develop next-generation tools to address the global challenge of sustaining natural ecosystems and biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes under climate change.
In relation to COP28, Dr Radford can talk to:
- The Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action, which is due to be signed at the conference;
- Natural capital accounting and sustainability reporting, in relation to climate change adaptation; and
- Environmental sustainability on farms.
Dr Radford says: “COP28 needs to double-down on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and re-affirm and intensify actions to combat climate change before irreversible damage is inflicted upon on the natural ecosystems that support all of biodiversity, including humanity.”
Senior Lecturer, La Trobe Law School
Contact: J.Dehm@latrobe.edu.au
Dr Dehm’s research addresses international and domestic climate change and environmental law, natural resource governance and questions of human rights, economic inequality and social justice. She is co-convener of the La Trobe Climate Network.
In relation to COP28, Dr Dehm can talk to:
- Discussions over loss and damage finance;
- Phase out/down of fossil fuels;
- How investor-state dispute resolution poses a threat to an urgent and just energy transition;
- Climate change and human rights; and
- Carbon markets, forest carbon offsets/REDD+.
Dr Dehm says: "The science is clear that in order to limit warming to 1.5°C, there can be no new fossil fuel infrastructure or projects, and there needs to be a rapid phase-out of existing fossil fuels. Yet countries such as Australia are continuing to approve new fossil fuel projects. At COP28, the international community needs to commit to a clear, equitable world-wide plan to phase out fossil fuels."
Media enquiries
Sue Smethurst - S.Smethurst@latrobe.edu.au, 0418 643 520
