From Sydney to Glasgow: activating innovation for climate action
Source: UN
In the lead-up to the UN COP26 Glasgow summit, the NSW Smart Sensing Network (NSSN) will host a virtual roundtable event that elucidates the opportunities at the nexus of smart sensing and climate change on 28 October 2021.
The NSSN Climate Change Roundtable will bring together thought leaders and leading climate change scientists from across the Network’s member universities to explore impactful sensing solutions across the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
SDG 7 – Affordable & Clean Energy
SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption & Production
SDG 13 – Climate Action
SDG14 – Life Below Water
SDG 15 – Life on Land
NSSN Co-Directors Professor Benjamin Eggleton, Director of the University of Sydney Nano Institute, and Professor Julien Epps, Head of School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications at UNSW, will host the roundtable.
“As a consortium of leading research universities, the NSSN is uniquely positioned to lend its voice to a global discourse on innovative technological solutions to monitoring and mitigating climate change,” said NSSN Co-Directors Professor Eggleton and Professor Epps in a joint statement.
“International, multidisciplinary and cross-institutional collaborations are crucial to realising our global targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“It is vital for Australia to boost its sovereign capability in developing advanced technologies that not only drive down emissions, but reduce the impact of extreme climate events.”
A newly released report into the economic costs of natural disasters in Australia by the Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience and Safer Communities indicates that under a low emissions scenario, the cost of natural disasters in Australia will increase to $73 billion per year by 2060.
In 2020, annual average costs of natural disasters are only 0.02% larger than the low emissions scenario. But under a high emissions scenario – where emissions reach 3° Celsius above pre-industrial levels just after 2060 – the estimated costs per year are $94 billion. That represents a 29% increase relative to the low emissions scenario.
Smart sensing has a pivotal role to play in reaching the goal of global net-zero. From electric vehicles to energy efficiencies, smart sensing is vital to the technological innovation that will drive the global net-zero agenda.
Similarly, climate-resilient communities rely on smart sensing. Air and water quality monitoring, sustainable agriculture, natural disaster preparation and resilient infrastructure are all underpinned by smart sensing.
“Highly sensitive wearables and warning systems can help with protecting our farms, diverse environment and population in the face of hazards such as floods, extreme heatwaves and poor air quality,” Professor Eggleton and Professor Epps said.
“Civil societies, climate experts, researchers, businesses and government agencies must all come together for Australia to make real inroads towards reducing our emissions and increasing our resilience in combating climate change.
“The NSSN is committed to activating cross-insitutional collaborations designed to deliver impact. This event is an excellent opportunity for the NSW community to hear from climate experts and learn more about smart sensing and climate change.”
Register here.
Media contact: Shahrzad (Zad) Abbasi - 0466 548 145