Climathon in Canberra

Greeting from the Climathon in Canberra, at the Australian National University. About fifty people will spend the weekend considering what to do about climate change in Canberra. Unfortunately the world have no effective process for combating climate change. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process has proved unworkable and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ineffective (about the only thing which is going to curb emissions is recession brought on by China).

I suggest that the UNFCCC and IPCC processes be replaced with on-line working. Canberra has the combination of policy making and techncial skills to do this. For my part I am teaching how to reduce carbon emissions by using ICT.

At a more local level, I suggest the ACT Government abandon plans for light rail, which will increase carbon emissions and implement bus lanes on existing roads. The bus lanes will displace cars and so reduce emissions.These can be used by conventional buses now, renewable fueled buses in the near future and driver-less autonomous mini-buses ("pods") further in the future.