Re: CAN - (National Framework for Adaptation and Mitigation) Bill 2020

I strongly support this very important and timely bill. Australia is lagging well behind the rest of the developed world on climate action, the impacts of climate change are accelerating, and we have no time to lose in taking effective action to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change that are occurring now and will continue for several decades at least.

I have had a long history of research in climate and Earth System science, in working across the science-policy interface at a number of levels, and in communicating the science of climate change both nationally and internationally. I have appended a brief bio below. In this submission, I wish to make five key points in support of this bill.

1. Urgency. Multiple lines of evidence point to the fact that the climate will breach the 1.5C level within a decade or so, most likely at an accelerating rate. If we want to avoid the extremely serious consequences of pushing the climate system past the 2C level, effective action must begin now, not in 2025 or 2030. Achieving net zero by 2050, which this bill proposes, is absolutely essential to avoid the high-end risks of climate change (see next point) and safeguard the future for our children and grandchildren. There is simply no time to lose. Even five years of delay could greatly diminish our chances of holding global average temperature below 2C. A legislated base for action would be a key piece in the suite of actions needed to meet the climate change challenge.

2. Impacts/risks to Australia. We already are experiencing the impacts of climate change - the massive bushfires of 2019/2020, the death of 50% of the hard corals on the Great Barrier Reef, increasing coastal flooding from rise sea levels, more severe droughts and more intense rainfall, record-breaking heatwaves. The list could go on, but there is little doubt that, if we continue on our present trajectory, much of Australia will become inhabitable, with a massive toll on human life and on our ecosystems and wildlife.

3. Independent Advisory Committee. A strong point of this bill is the formation of an Independent Advisory Committee on climate change. This is sorely needed. The federal Climate Commission, formed by the Gillard Committee, played this role effectively for a few years but has since been gutted of the appropriate expertise by successive Coalition Governments. Two aspects of such a committee are essential and non-negotiable: (i) independence from partisan politics; and (ii) the appropriate expertise across science, technology, economics, social issues, and Indigenous wisdom. This bill would provide the legislative basis for such a committee.

4. Global citizenship. Over the past decade, Australia has become an international laggard on climate action, rapidly eroding our reputation as a good global citizen. We have put forward pathetically weak emission reduction targets, failed to meet even them, censored UNESCO World Heritage reports (e.g., climate change-driven bleaching of the GBR), and joined the buffoons from the (thankfully now departing) Trump Government in undercutting and disrupting effective international action on climate change. The passage of this bill would be a very important step in beginning to restore our earlier reputation as a collaborative and constructive player on key international issues

5. Australian climate research community. An indirect benefit of this bill would be a strong message of support for the strengthening of Australia’s climate science community, still one of the most important in the world despite the funding cuts, censorship and other attacks from Coalition Government members, the Murdoch press, elements of the fossil fuel industry, and the conservative elements of society. These sort of attacks have intensified as climate change has increasingly become a partisan political issue. This private member’s bill could be a circuit-breaker in this toxic environment, becoming a major step in overcoming this partisan, ideological divide and providing the legal underpinning for a bipartisan approach to climate change.

I could go on with many more points and arguments, but I’ll conclude by emphasising the importance of this bill. We are entering the ‘climate endgame’, with potential disastrous consequences if greenhouse gas emissions continue on their present trajectory for just one more decade. Australia, with our domestic emissions and fossil fuel exports, is a major player globally. Now is the time to step up and start taking responsible action on climate change.

Yours sincerely,

Will Steffen Emeritus Professor The Australian National University Canberra

Biography (October 2020) - Will Steffen

Will Steffen is an Earth System scientist. His research interests span a broad range within climate and Earth System science, with an emphasis on system-level understanding of climate change, incorporation of human processes in Earth System modelling and analysis; and on and climate change. In addition, Steffen has been active on the climate change science-policy interface for three decades, and has played a leading role in the development of Earth System science internationally.

Education and Degrees: PhD (Honoris causa) University of Canberra, Australia (April 2015) PhD (Honoris causa): Stockholm University, Sweden (September 2010) PhD (Chemistry): University of Florida, USA (August 1975) MS (Chemistry): University of Florida, USA (August 1972) BS (Chemical Engineering): University of Missouri, USA (May 1970)

Current positions:  Emeritus Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University (ANU), Canberra  Councillor, Climate Council of Australia  Senior Fellow, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden  Fellow, Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Stockholm  Senior Associate, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, UK

Leadership roles in climate-related research  ANU - inaugural director of ANU Climate Change Institute, 2008-2012  Creation of the Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU, from its constituent bodies, 2007  International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) Executive Director (1998- 2004) - guided IGBP synthesis project, and lead author of synthesis book. Chief Scientist of IGBP (2004-2006) (IGBP was an international research programme (1986- 2015) on global change involving about 10,000 scientists from over 50 countries  Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE) Executive Officer (1990-1998), leading international research body on terrestrial carbon cycle.

Major climate change-related achievements:

Numerous contributions to the development of climate policy in Australia:  Science adviser to the Australian Government on climate change: 2007-2013  Independent Expert Adviser to the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Hon. Julia Gillard, 2011  Commissioner on the Australian Government’s Climate Commission, 2011-2013  Many briefings on climate change to Commonwealth Government departments: Industry and Resources, Treasury, Environment, Primary Industries and Water Resources  Member of the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) Government Climate Change Committee, 2011-2019

Contributions as author and reviewer to five IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) assessments and special reports between 2000 and 2018:  Major contributions to the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (2007) Working Group I: Couplings between Changes in the Climate System and Biogeochemistry. Lead author on the terrestrial carbon cycle section  IPCC Special Report on Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (2000). This report was instrumental in establishing accounting rules for land-based carbon uptake and emissions in the context of national reporting to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).  Contribution to IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C: Chapter 1: Framing and Context  Reviews of Australian impacts sections on two IPCC Assessment reports (Working Group II).

Major contributions to Earth System and climate system research:  Key role in the development of the field of Earth System science  Integration and synthesis of primary research towards understanding planetary dynamics as a whole  Coupling of biogeochemical cycles (mainly carbon) and physical climate;  Dynamics of abrupt and irreversible changes; tipping points in the climate system  Global carbon cycle, including interaction between biosphere and physical climate system  integration of natural and human dimensions of Earth System and climate science  Lead author on paper in Nature Reviews describing the origins and evolution of Earth System science as a new field of study

Leading role in the development of the concept  Close collaboration with Paul Crutzen on the origins and early development of the concept from an Earth System perspective  Originator of the ‘Great Acceleration’ graphs and data analysis, which for the scientific basis for a mid-20th century start date for the Anthropocene  Member of the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG), which has recommended formal recognition of the Anthropocene as a new epoch in the Geologic Time Scale.  Co-author on numerous peer-reviewed AWG publications that have developed the concept from both Earth System and stratigraphic perspectives.

Communication activities:  Numerous presentations on climate change, the Earth System and the Anthropocene to a very wide range of audiences, including governments at high levels, business and industry, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), professional organisations and the general public.  Participation in a large number of conferences, summits, future think tanks and other events involving participants from all walks of life.  Much experience with the media, both print and electronic, on complex and contentious issues like climate change and sustainability.  Provision of background support to and appearances in several full-length films such as the Swedish documentary film “Planeten” (“The Planet”), an upcoming Australian film “Carbon. An Unauthorized Biography”, and a Danish documentary on Earth System science. Also, contributions to several films on the Anthropocene.

Advisory and other roles  Apr 2016 – present Member, International Advisory Board, Centre for Collective Action Research, Gothenburg University, Sweden  Jan 2011 – present Member, Volvo Environment Prize jury, Sweden (Chair of Jury from May 2013)  Jul 2004 – Dec 2015 Member, National Committee for Earth System Science (NCESS), Australian Academy of Science  Oct 2010 – July 2011 Member, Multi-Party Climate Change Committee, Australian Government  Oct 2009- Dec 2014 Chair, Antarctic Science Advisory Committee, Australian Government  Aug 2009 – May 2011 Member, Science Advisory Committee, APEC Climate Center, Busan, Korea  Jan 2005 – May 2010 Chair, International Advisory Board, QUEST (Quantifying and Understanding the Earth System) programme, UK  Oct 2005 – Nov 2008 Chair, Advisory Panel, Earth and Sun System Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA  Jan 2006-Dec 2008 Member, Advisory Board, Australian Bureau of Meteorology  May 2007 Review of the Australian Climate Change Science Program. Australian Government. Carried out with Dr Susan Solomon, NOAA, USA and Convening Lead Author, Working Group 1, IPCC Fourth Assessment Report  Apr 2007 Member of review panel, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany  Aug 2006 – Dec 2006 Member, PMSEIC (Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council) working group on Australia’s S&T Priorities for Global Engagement  Feb 2005 Member of review panel for du Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE), Paris, France  Apr 2004 Member of review panel for the Tyndall Centre, UK (Climate Adaptation Research)

Publications:

Over 150 publications spanning Earth System science, climate change, and sustainability, including lead-authored publications in the most prestigious journals - Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), and the Nature journal group.

Below are the top 15 publications in terms of scientific advances, influence on scientific research, and science-policy links: Steffen, W., Rockström, J., Richardson,, K., Lenton, T.M., Folke, C., Liverman, D., Summerhayes, C.P., Barnosky, A.D, Cornell, S.E., Crucifix, M., Donges, J.F., Fetzer, I., Lade, S.J., Scheffer, M., Winkelmann, R., and Schellnhuber, H.J. (2018) Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), doi:10.1073/pnas.1810141115.

Steffen, W., Richardson, K., Rockström, J., Schellnhuber, H.J., Dube, O.P., Dutreuil, S., Lenton, T.M. and Lubchenco, J. (2020) The emergence and evolution of Earth System Science. Nature Reviews: Earth and Environment 1:54-63

Lenton, T.M., Rockström, J., Gaffney, O., Rahmstorf, S., Richardson, K., Steffen, W. and Schellnhuber, H.J. (2019) Climate tipping points - too risky to bet against. Nature 575: 593- 596.

Steffen, W., Leinfelder, R., Zalasiewicz, J., Waters, C.N., Williams, M., Summerhayes, C., Barnosky, A.D., Cearreta, A., Crutzen, P., Edgeworth, M., Ellis, E.C., Fairchild, I.J., Gałuszka, A., Grinevald, J., Haywood, A., Ivar do Sul, J., Jeandel, C., McNeill, J.R., Odada, E., Oreskes, N., Revkin, A., Richter, D. deB, Syvitski, J., Vidas, D., Wagreich, M., Wing S.L., Wolfe, A.P., Schellnhuber, H.J. (2016) Stratigraphic and Earth System approaches to defining the Anthropocene. Earth's Future 4: doi:eft2/2016EF000379

Steffen, W., Richardson, K., Rockström, J., Cornell, S.E., Fetzer, I., Bennett, E.M., Biggs, R., Carpenter, S.R., de Vries, W., de Wit, C.A., Folke, C., Gerten, D., Heinke, J., Mace, G.M., Persson, L.M., Ramanathan, V., Reyers, B., and Sörlin, S. (2015) : Guiding human development on a changing planet. Science 347: DOI: 10.1126/science.1259855

Steffen, W., Broadgate, W., Deutsch, L., Gaffney, O. and Ludwig, C. (2015) The trajectory of the Anthropocene: The Great Acceleration. The Anthropocene Review DOI: 10.1177/2053019614564785

Zalasiewicz, J., Waters, C.N., Williams, M. Barnosky, A.D., Cearreta, A., Crutzen, P., Ellis, E., Ellis, M.A., Fairchild, I.J., Grinevald, J., Haff, P.K., Hajdas, I., Leinfelder, R., McNeill, J., Odada, E.O., Poirier, C., Richter, D., Steffen, W., Summerhayes, C., Syvitski, J.P.M., Vidas, D., Wagreich, M., Wing, S.L., Wolfe, A.P. and Zhisheng, A. (2015) When did the Anthropocene begin? A mid-twentieth century boundary level is stratigraphically optimal. Quaternary International 383: 196-203. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2014.11.045

Steffen, W. and Griggs, D. (2013) Compounding crises: Climate change in a complex world. In: Christoff, P. (ed.) Four Degrees of Warming: Australia in a Hot World. Routledge/Earthscan: London, pp. 118-134.

Mackey, B., Prentice, I.C., Steffen, W., Lindenmayer, D., Keith, H., Berry, S. and House, J. (2013) Untangling the confusion around land carbon science and climate change mitigation policy. Nature Climate Change 3: 552-557. Steffen, W., Persson Å., Deutsch, L., Zalasiewicz, J., Williams, M., Richardson, K., Crumley, C., Crutzen, P., Folke, C., Gordon, L., Molina, M., Ramanathan, V., Rockström, J., Scheffer, M., Schellnhuber, J., Svedin, U. (2011) The Anthropocene: from global change to planetary stewardship. Ambio 40: 739-761.

Steffen, W., Grinevald, J., Crutzen, P. and McNeill, J. (2011). The Anthropocene: Conceptual and historical perspectives. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 369: 842-867.

Richardson, K., Steffen, W., Liverman, D., Barker, T., Jotzo, F., Kammen, D., Leemans, R., Lenton, T., Munasinghe, M., Osman-Elasha, B., Schellnhuber, J., Stern, N., Vogel, C., and Waever, O. (2011) Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 502 pp.

Steffen, W., Crutzen, P.J. and McNeill, J.R. (2007). The Anthropocene: Are humans now overwhelming the great forces of Nature? Ambio 36: 614-621.

Steffen, W., Love, G. and Whetton, P. (2006) Approaches to defining dangerous climate change: a southern hemisphere perspective. In: Schellnhuber, H.J., Cramer, W., Nakicenovic, N., Wigley, T. and Yohe, G. (eds) Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, pp. 219-225.

Steffen, W., Sanderson, A., Tyson, P.D., Jäger, J., Matson, P., Moore III, B., Oldfield, F., Richardson, K., Schellnhuber, H.-J., Turner II, B.L. and Wasson, R.J. (2004). Global Change and the Earth System: A Planet Under Pressure. The IGBP Book Series, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 336 pp.