Now or Never: Building Resilience in the Midst of Climate Chaos at M|Arts

THE Politics of Life: This Stuff Matters June event will delve into the deeper details of resilience in an era of severe climate change in its latest monthly instalment at M|Arts.

Now or Never: Building Resilience in the Midst of Climate Chaos features Griffith University academic and activist Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe and community resilience advocate Dr Jean Renouf introduced by Laura Conlon on Thursday, June 19.

The discussion will explore the effects of the severely changing climate on individuals, families, neighbourhoods, and communities and discuss the practical, emotional, and psychological adaptations communities must make.

Politics of Life founder Dr Richard Hil said that most of us realised that experts had been warning us about greenhouse gases and biodiversity destruction for years.

“Governments talk up ‘clean energy’ but simultaneously grant fossil fuel licenses left, right, and centre,” Hil said.

“Banks, super funds, and fossil fuel corporations are in bed together, pouring money into dirty energy while Trump chants, ‘Drill, baby, drill’.”

Lowe is a scientist, environmentalist, and communicator who sits on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the National Energy Research Council, the South Australian Royal Commission on the Nuclear Industry, and the Australian Conservation Foundation.

As CEO of Safer Future and Founder/Chair of Plan C, Renouf helps clients prepare for future crises with confidence and serenity.

He is a firefighter with Fire and Rescue NSW, a former university lecturer, and an international aid worker spending 15 years working in war zones and disasters in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Congo, Haiti, Iraq, North Korea, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

“Some scientists predict we’ll exceed two degrees Celsius within a decade, blowing the 1.5 degree threshold set in Paris in 2015,” Hil said.

“That means vanishing ice sheets, rising oceans, more storms, fires, and floods – disruptions that will shake economies and societies to their core.

“We’ve had our fair share of extreme weather in the Northern Rivers, but disasters are unfolding globally every single day.

“The main game right now isn’t mitigation – the real focus now is adaptation and how we build a liveable future or at least learn to respond rather than react.”

For tickets, visit thisstuffmatters.my.canva.site