The Zoom webinar will discuss whether recent environmental assessments of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) by Australia's reef science organisations properly reflect all the relevant scientific data. Starting times in other time zones are 6:30 pm QLD / 7:00 pm SA / 6:00 pm NT / 4:30 pm WA / 8:30 am GMT.

Last June UNECSO tabled a draft recommendation that, if adopted, would list the GBR as a World Heritage site “in danger”. That decision was based on assessments by the organisations in question that are open to serious challenge based on the data collected to the present time.

Our speakers will be Dr Peter Ridd, Jo Nova and Dr Walter Starck. They are experts in their field and knowledgeable about the issues to be discussed. Alan Moran will be the moderator.

Further details on the webinar and biographies on each of the speakers are available at the Zoom Registration Webpage created for the event CLICK HERE.

Once you register, Zoom will tell you how to access the ‘webinar room’ on 1 March.

Although attendance is free of charge, we ask attendees to consider making a donation to the AEF Bob Carter Memorial Fund, which is funding the webinar.

Please direct any questions to editor@australianenvironment.org.

On 24 November 2020 The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF) and AEF hosted a Zoom webinar on the reforms needed to environmental science. You can catch the video of the event on the Forum’s YouTube channel here.

The speakers were: geophysicist, Dr Peter Ridd; science blogger, Jo Nova; and economist, Alan Moran.

They began by outlining the scientific failures in some of the most critical areas of Australian environmental policy. Peter Ridd spoke about the problems with research on the Great Barrier Reef, while Jo Nova focussed on bushfire prevention and management and Alan Moran on the Murray-Darling Basin.

Their subsequent discussion highlighted the problems were systematic; they affected every aspect, not only, of how environmental research is conducted but also the way its results are checked, validated and communicated to government and the public. It made clear the task of fixing these problems went well beyond the halls of science.

Attendees were able to submit questions to the panel. Unfortunately, there were more questions than time to answer all of them in the detail they deserved.

The post-webinar survey of attendees indicated a high level of satisfaction with the event. So much so that respondent expressed strong support for a future event to discuss the key issues in more depth.

The Webinar was the latest in a series commemorating the life and work of Professor Bob Carter, who was an AEF Director and its Scientific Adviser up to the time of his death. AEF was therefore most gratified that Anne Cater, Bob’s widow, was able to attend.

The Hon. Tony Abbott — the former PM and former Member of the House of Representatives for Warringah in NSW — spoke on "Climate Change and Restraining Greenhouse Gas Emissions".  

This event was the second of the Bob Carter Commemorative Lectures, which AEF has established to commemorate the life and work of Professor Robert (Bob) Carter, a former AEF Director and its Scientific Adviser. The Bob Carter Memorial Fund is financing the Lecture series.

Mr Abbott's address concluded with a question and answer session with the audience.

Dr Peter Ridd moved the vote of thanks. Peter was a former colleague of Bob Carter at James Cook University and was recently sacked for criticising his colleagues' research on climate change—something for which Bob Carter had previously been sanctioned.  

An edited version of Mr Abbott’s address was published on Quadrant Online. The link is here.