Sustainability -- Are we winning? | Peter Newman | TEDxPerth
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the
TED Conferences. Most sustainability talks are about the doom and despair associated with climate change. In his talk,
Peter Newman compiles recent trends to show the hope that we could perhaps change enough to meet the global challenges, especially in our cities. Decoupling fossil fuels from wealth and liveability can now be seen with peak fossil fuel investment, peak power consumption, peak car use and peak oil.
There is no room for complacency but we are winning
...?
Peter is the
Professor of
Sustainability at
Curtin University and
Director of
CUSP. He is a
Lead Author for
Transport on the
IPCC and was a member of the
Advisory Council for
Infrastructure Australia. His books include ‘
Green Urbanism in
Asia’ (
2013), ‘
Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and
Climate Change’ (2009), ‘Green Urbanism
Down Under’ (2009) and 'Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile
Dependence' with
Jeff Kenworthy which was launched in the
White House in
1999.
In 2001-3 Peter directed the production of
Western Australia’s Sustainability
Strategy in the
Department of the
Premier and
Cabinet. In 2004-5 he was a Sustainability
Commissioner in
Sydney advising the government on planning and transport issues. In
2006/7 he was a
Fulbright Senior Scholar at the
University of Virginia Charlottesville. In
2011, Peter was awarded the
Sidney Luker medal by the
Planning Institute of Australia (
NSW) for his contribution to the science and practice of town planning in
Australia.
In 2014, he was awarded an
Order of Australia for his contributions to urban design and sustainable transport, particularly related to the saving and rebuilding of
Perth’s rail system.
He was an elected
Fremantle City Councillor from
1976 to 80 where he still lives.
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