Net Zero By 2050: Reality or Fantasy?

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Please join us on Thursday 22 June as we host a lunch event for a dynamic panel discussion on Australia’s energy pathway to net zero emissions by 2050. CIS will welcome NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee, University of Queensland Adjunct Professor Stephen Wilson, and Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN) National Co-Convenor Felicity Wade. This panel discussion will be moderated by CIS Executive Director Tom Switzer.

The NSW and federal governments are legislating targets to achieve net zero emissions based on 2005 levels by 2050, and our diverse panel of experts will discuss if the net zero emissions target is reality or fantasy.

With coal production in NSW set to continue for another decade, how is the current mining industry minimising its carbon emissions to achieve the net zero goal set by government policy?

What will the energy landscape in 2050 look like?

And how can global emissions come down while non-OECD nations chug along the smoky path to prosperity?

What role could nuclear energy play in reducing carbon emissions on the pathway toward net zero by 2050?

Stephen Galilee is the CEO of the NSW Minerals Council since 2012. He was also a Senior Adviser to former Prime Minister John Howard and Chief of Staff to Mike Baird during his time as NSW Treasurer.

Felicity Wade ran the Wilderness Society in NSW for over a decade and has worked in responsible investment and politics. She currently works for Washington DC based think-tank, World Resources Institute supporting forest protection in the Indo-Pacific and leads the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN).

Professor Stephen Wilson is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering at UQ, provides advisory services through Cape Otway Associates, and is a director of an energy technology start-up.

Tom Switzer is Executive Director of the Centre for Independent Studies and a presenter on ABC Radio National.