NZ IceFest heats up over climate change

NZ IceFest will heat up this weekend with a focus on climate change which includes the first of three Big Issues events on Saturday night [22 September].

NZ IceFest Director Jo Blair said that people could expect to hear from and talk to world-class experts in the field of climate change.

“It will be extraordinary to have the best of the best in the climate change field all together at NZ IceFest.

“This weekend’s line up of events is perfect for those who want to understand climate change better, and how it impacts New Zealanders' daily lives. It will also help people understand how Antarctica fits into influencing our planet’s climate.”

Featured guests at Saturday night’s Big Issues: What does climate change mean for us? will provide expertise from science and policy fields, Christchurch's rebuild sector, and the dairy industry.  A panel will be facilitated by Kathryn Ryan from Radio New Zealand, including CERA CEO Roger Sutton, climate negotiator Dr Adrian Macey, Director of the Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University and member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Professor Tim Naish, Social Scientist Dr Bronwyn Hayward, and General Manager of Policy and Advocacy - Dairy NZ, Simon Tucker .

On Sunday morning [23 September] UC Science Cafe will continue the focus on climate change with Climate change: up close and uncomfortable at the Press Igloo Bar and Cafe. The event will provide the chance to talk about climate change in a relaxed and social environment says Ms Blair.

“In the spirit of Cafe Scientifique, which is a global science movement, you can bring your trickiest or seemingly basic question or opinion about climate change, have a cup of coffee and get to the nitty gritty of the issues. If climate change is important to you but lecture theatres aren’t your style, this will be the place to be. No question will be too simple."

For more information visit www.nzicefest.co.nz and www.cafescientifique.org .

Bigraphies

Professor Tim Naish                                                                                                      Director  Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington (VUW)

Professor Tim Naish is Director of the Antarctic Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington and Principal Scientist at the New Zealand Crown Research Institute, GNS Science.

He is a paleoclimatologist focused on reconstructing past ice sheet and global sea-level changes from continental margin geological records. He has participated in nine expeditions to Antarctica and helped found ANDRILL, an international Antarctic Geological Drilling Program. He was co-chief scientist of ANDRILL’s McMurdo Ice Shelf Project which recovered sediment cores documenting the first direct evidence that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet had collapsed the last time the world was 2-3°C warmer, three to five million years ago. He is currently a Lead Author on the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change’s 5th Assessment Report, and Director of the Joint Antarctic Research Institute (JARI). He received the New Zealand Antarctic Medal and the New Zealand Science and Technology Medal for fundamental contributions to Antarctic climate change research.

Dr Adrian Macey
Senior Associate, Institute for Governance and  Policy Studies Victoria University of Wellington; Adjunct Professor, School of Geography and Earth Sciences

Adrian Macey, formerly New Zealand's first Climate Change Ambassador, has wide experience of climate change policy at both the domestic and international level.  He runs a 'think tank' on climate change policy at Victoria University of Wellington.

His previous career   in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, included  positions  as Ambassador to Thailand,  Cambodia, Laos and  Myanmar, chief trade negotiator, and Ambassador to France, the OECD and Algeria.  He was appointed as New Zealand's first climate change ambassador in 2006 .  In 2010 and 2011 he was vice-chair, then chair of the UN  Kyoto Protocol negotiations.  Dr Macey  currently runs  a roundtable series on climate change policy at the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at VUW, involving political, business  academic  and  NGO participants in a Chatham House format .

Dr Bronwyn Hayward
Senior Lecturer - University of Canterbury and a Trustee of the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development

Bronwyn is a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Canterbury, a Trustee of the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development, London and a visiting fellow with the Sustainable Lifestyles Research Group, UK and co-researcher of the Voices of the Future Project about children and climate change at the University of Oslo, Norway.

Her research and her writing explores the issues facing children and young people in a rapidly changing physical, social and economic environment.

Her work also shows the surprising implications of environmental change not only for our democracy but also for our imagination as citizens.