Plenary Panels
Plenary Panel 1: Finding a Future for Corals
This panel will debate the various outlooks for corals under climate change with a particular focus on the Great Barrier Reef, a world heritage listed natural wonder that is threatened. Will corals switch and survive and will coral engineering provide solutions? The severe bleaching events in 2016 and 2017 have affected half of the corals in the GBR. Major transformations are underway for coral reefs around the world. What action can be taken to secure corals in the future?
Panelists:
- John Veron, "Godfather of Coral", Corals of the World
- Morgan Pratchett, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, Australia
- Emily Howells, Southern Cross University, Australia
Plenary Panel 2: Transformation to a Sustainable and Desirable Future
This panel will discuss how to make the transformation to a sustainable and desirable future. How do we envision and create a future that is focused on the sustainable wellbeing of humans and the rest of nature? How do we overcome the political, social, and economic barriers that are slowing or preventing movement in a positive direction? How can we overcome these barriers and create the future we all want?
Panelists:
-
Kate Auty, Professorial Fellow University of Melbourne, Australia
- Jacqueline McGlade, University College London, UK
- Lorenzo Fioramonti, Chamber of Deputies, Italy
- Jigmi Y. Thinley, Former Prime Minister of Bhutan (2008-2013) / World Leadership Alliance - Club de Madrid / Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council
Plenary Panel 3: Eco-Civilization
This panel will debate the creation and evolving mechanism of eco-civilization as a means to overcome global climate disruption and social injustices. A civilization based on ecological concepts and principles may lead the path into a more sustainable future. Some countries like China have started initiative aimed at transforming the society into an eco-civilization. But will problems just be transferred or are we able to transform? What can we learn from the current CoVid-19 crisis to make our societies more resilient?
Panelists:- Robert Costanza, Institute for Global Prosperity, University College London, UK
- Xi Ji, Peking University, China
- B. Larry Li, University of California, Riverside, USA
- Junguo Liu, Southern University of Science and Technology and North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, China
