Having launched The Critical Decade: Illawarra/NSW South Coast Impacts report in Wollongong yesterday, the Climate Commission held a community forum at the Town Hall last night.
The forum culminated the commission’s tour of the Illawarra that included a visit to the University of Wollongong, Bluescope Steel and the Transforming Australia conference.
Part of a series of town hall meetings around the country, last night’s forum gave Illawarra residents an opportunity to pose question to the commission.
The Climate Commission is an independent body set up by the Gillard government in 2010 to provide an authoritative source of information on climate change to the Australian people.
Chief Climate Commissioner Professor Tim Flannery explained the role of the commission, and says it to subject to Government direction and does not comment on policy.
The commission was designed to help inform the debate on the issue of climate change and is made up of experts from a range of fields relevant to field.
Professor Will Steffen, Climate Commissioner and co-author of the abovementioned report, says the evidence for climate change is overwhelmingly clear.
“This report shows that the NSW South Coast and the Illawarra region are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of a changing climate,” he said.
The Current’s Tamara Gasser caught up with Professor Steffen following the forum.
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