Emeritus Professor Ralph Sims 

Ralph Sims is Emeritus Professor of Renewable Energy and founder of the Centre for Energy Research at Massey University, where he has been based for more than half a century. 

Is the IPCC past its use-by date?

Based on my close involvement with six IPCC reports since 1992, the key outcomes and recommendations on mitigation and adaptation measures and opportunities over the decades are reviewed. The messages were clear – though perhaps not always well-communicated.

So why have few people, businesses, governments, etc., taken any notice of the science?

Global emissions continue to rise; NZ emissions have possibly stabilised based on recent NZ Stats results; climate impacts are now more evident. It’s too late to stay below the 1.5 ºC temperature rise of the Paris target.

So should the IPCC continue to give out the same old messages based on the science – or should we give up on this scientific assessment process and leave it to the survival of the fittest?

Manawatū Branch of the Royal Society Te Apārangi

21 March 7.30pm

Palmerston North City Library

AGM: The 2022 AGM of the Manawatū Branch of the Royal Society Te Apārangi will be held on 15 November at 6.30 pm, in advance of the November lecture which will be given by Dr Trisia Farrelly on her work on plastics and waste minimisation. (Although we held the deferred 2021 AGM earlier in 2022, we still need to hold a 2022 AGM.)

Please do consider standing for the Branch Council, and for one of the elected roles of president, treasurer, or secretary. The roles of president and secretary are currently vacant, and for the health and continuity of the branch it is vital they are filled at this AGM.  If you wish to stand for one of these positions, or for the committee, please email Margaret Tennant: matennant@xtra.co.nz. You can also be nominated on the night.

Lecture: The Politics of Plastic Pollution Associate Prof Trisia Farrelly. Associate Professor Farrelly is an environmental anthropologist who researches plastic pollution and its relationships with climate change, human health and rights, and biodiversity loss. Her most recent work focusses on plastic pollution as waste colonialism, and includes Plastic Legacies: Pollution, Persistence and Politics (2021), to which she contributed as co-editor and author. Trisia will talk about her involvement in the United Nations Environment Assembly since 2017 and the resolution for a global plastics treaty. She will also discuss her role as technical advisor for Pacific Island countries and New Zealand’s potential role in negotiating a comprehensive and effective treaty.