Introducing Hillary Laureate, Aimée Christensen, to the 2035 Oceania Summit

by Peter Wren-Hilton | May 26, 2022 | 2035 Oceania Summit

Wharf42 is absolutely delighted to be able to introduce Hillary Laureate, Aimée Christensen, as a keynote speaker at the 2035 Oceania Summit in October.

Over the past six months, the Summit has been working closely with the team at the Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF) to identify opportunities to engage Fellows with the Summit. The EHF mission is to incubate solutions to global problems from Aotearoa New Zealand, and make a lasting positive impact on the world. With more than 500 technologists, creatives, investors, entrepreneurs, educators and systems designers, EHF and its Fellows provide an amazing opportunity to address some of the significant challenges being discussed in October.

Accelerating solutions for a resilient world, Aimée Christensen is a Hillary Laureate (2011), CEO of Christensen Global Strategies and the founding Executive Director of the Sun Valley Institute for Resilience. She has extensive experience in climate change and sustainability strategy in the government, corporate, investment, and philanthropic sectors. Known as a thought-leader who also delivers results, she was trained as an environmental and energy lawyer and has deep experience in energy policy in Washington, D.C. She founded Christensen Global in 2005 and her clients have included the Clinton Global Initiative, the Global Ocean Commission, Microsoft, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the United Nations Development Program. She has a track record of creating platforms for collaborative impact and action and has served on numerous boards and advisory boards including with the American Council on Renewable Energy, the US Homeland Security Department’s Sustainability and Efficiency Task Force, and the Advisory Board of the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development.

Aimée negotiated the first US bilateral climate change accord (with Costa Rica) and wrote and successfully advocated for the adoption of the first university endowment investment policy on climate change (Stanford University in 1999).  Aimée’s 5th Sun Valley Forum took place in July 2019, with a number of her fellow Laureates contributing, alongside a large cast of international leadership participants.

Supporters of  Aimée’s work 
For the Hillary Institute, whose mission is is to recognise, reward and nurture great leaders who will provide answers to such challenges as climate change, poverty, disease, peace and justice, Aimée’s service and leadership is inspiring and encapsulates the spirit of Sir Ed. Her climate action work also holds great significance for The Edmund Hillary Fellowship made up of more than 500 technologists, creatives, investors, entrepreneurs, educators and systems designers, from 57 nationalities, all committed to New Zealand as a base camp for global impact.

To learn more about the 2035 Oceania Summit, check out the Summit portal here.

Register for the Auckland pre-2035 Oceania Summit workshop – 31 May

by Peter Wren-Hilton | May 15, 2022 | 2035 Oceania Summit

The Auckland pre-2035 Oceania Summit workshop is designed to bring together the region’s scientific & research community, its industry leaders, agribusiness & agritech companies, farmers & growers, regulators and policy makers to meet and discuss how agrifood tech innovation and on-farm application can help address the existential threat posed by climate change.

The 2035 Oceania Summit would like to acknowledge the significant support provided by our Platinum Partner, BNZ, in assisting host the Auckland pre-2035 Oceania Summit workshop. Coffee, tea and light refreshments will be available.

You can register your free ticket on Eventbrite here.

The detailed Programme is currently being finalised but presenters will include;

• • Zahra Champion, Executive Director BiotechNZ, to talk about NZ biotech companies working in the agrifood climate space
  • Analeise Murahidy, Director Strategic Growth, Auckland Uniservices, to talk about the current agrifood research and innovation pipeline at the University of Auckland
  • Roger Robson-Williams, Chief Sustainability Officer, Plant & Food Research, to talk about current agrifood research and climate research at Plant & Food Research
  • Simon Yarrow, Agritech ITP lead, Callaghan Innovation & Sarah Hindle, Agritech ITP lead, NZTE, to talk about the Agritech ITP
  • Jon Sandbrook, NZTE Investment Manager, to talk about the 2035 Vision investment platform. (More at www.2035.ag)
  • Maria Jose Alverez, WNT Ventures Investment Manager, to join a panel discussion with Jon on the 2035 Investment Vision platform
  • Mick Liubinskas, Founder of Climate Salad, to join a panel discussion with Jon on the 2035 Investment Vision platform (remotely, from Sydney)
  • Andrew Fisher, Director of EcoGas, to talk about what’s happening to Auckland’s food scraps for the next 20 years
  • Rebekah Cain, BNZ Chief Sustainability Officer, supported by Dana Muir (Agri) & Tim Wixon (Agritech). Global sustainability trends through an NZ lens
  • Peter Wren-Hilton, Convenor, the 2035 Oceania Summit, and how stakeholders can engage

Registered attendees will be advised of the more detailed programme timing shortly.

Register for Sydney’s pre-2035 Oceania Summit workshop – Tuesday 10 May

by Peter Wren-Hilton | May 8, 2022 | 2035 Oceania Summit

It’s hard to believe that the Australia leg of the pre-2035 Oceania Summit workshops ends in Sydney tomorrow.

The last two and a half weeks have been a blast. I’ve had the opportunity to meet a large number of really focused AgriFoodTech and ClimateTech professionals looking to support farmers and growers meet the climate change challenge. In both ACT & South Australia, there are strategies being put in place which bring research, industry and government together. The workshops in both Canberra & the Adelaide Hills, (photograph taken above), reflected the significant progress that is being made in terms of both research and industry application.

I’m really looking forward to welcoming a number of these organisations and individuals to Auckland in October. We are actively working with AgriFutures Australia and the team at growAG to build a major Australian Zone in the Aotea Centre at the 2035 Oceania Summit. It will provide an opportunity for New Zealand and international delegates to identify opportunities for partnership & collaboration.

Tomorrow, we are hosting our final pre-2035 Oceania Summit workshop at Cicada Innovations here in Sydney. We are just 10 seats short of another sell-out crowd. It’s a fantastic line-up of speakers & panellists. For more details of the day’s agenda and to register your free seat, please go to Pre-2035 Oceania Summit 1/2 day workshop – Sydney Tickets, Tue 10/05/2022 at 8:30 AM | Eventbrite

For anyone who thinks that ZOOM & Teams can substitute the impact of in-person meetings, I have a message. Over the past two and a half weeks, we’ve managed to make more progress in supporting trans-Tasman engagement in this space that at any point over the past two years.

Thanks Australia. You have been awesome!

Join the Sydney pre-2035 Oceania Summit workshop – 10 May

by Peter Wren-Hilton | Apr 18, 2022 | 2035 Oceania Summit

Join the Canberra pre-2035 Oceania Summit Workshop – 27 April

by Peter Wren-Hilton | Apr 13, 2022 | 2035 Oceania Summit

As part of our 2035 Oceania Summit planning, we are delighted to announce the programme for the first pre-Summit workshop. It will take place in Canberra, ACT on Wednesday 27 April 2022. The event will be hosted at the China in the World Building, Australian National University.

This workshop has been made possible through the assistance and support of our two ACT partners, the Centre for Entrepreneurial Agri-Technology & the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research . 

The purpose of the pre-Summit workshop is to enable participants to share how research they do, or support, is helping reduce the carbon footprint of the agrifood production sector. Our hope is that this workshop will help identify topics that could be further explored at the 2035 Oceania Summit in October 2022, and to help forge new links among industry, research and government stakeholders in the ACT.

You can register here for a complimentary ticket to the event.

The Canberra Workshop Programme

 8.00am – 8.30am                          Registration & Coffee on arrival

8.30am – 8.35am                          Welcome by MC (Professor Owen Atkin, Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Agri-Technology)

8.35am – 8.50am                          Introduction to the 2035 Oceania Summit + Q&A (Peter Wren-Hilton, Convenor, 2035 Oceania Summit)

8.50am – 9.10am                            Existing Emission – reduction options – technical  + Q & A (Dr. Andy Reisinger, Vice-chair for Working Group III (mitigation) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, NZ Climate Change Commissioner)

9.10am – 9.30am:                         Existing Emissions – reduction options – whole-of-system + Q&A (Dr. Steven Crimp, Climate Scientist at the Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions at the Australian National University)

9.30am – 10.00am: Panel Discussion: Industry Perspectives:

Margo Andrae – CEO, Pork Australia

Petr Adamek – CEO, Canberra Innovation Network

Olympia Yarger – CEO, Goterra

10.00am – 10.30am: Panel Discussion: Research Perspectives:

Dr. Anna Okella – Lead, Livestock Systems Program, ACIAR

John Harvey – Managing Director, AgriFutures Australia,

Katie Ricketts – Senior Research Scientist, Sustainability Assessment & Metrics – CSIRO Research

10.30am – 11.00am: Coffee Break

11.00am – 11.30am: Panel Discussion: Policy Options:

Christine Mulhearn – Assistant Secretary of the Agriculture Policy Division, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment

Dr Cate Rogers – Assistant Secretary of the Climate Financing and Programming Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade

11.30am -11.55pm:   Future Options – Emerging and Over the Horizon + Q&A (Professor Mark Howden – Director of the Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions at the Australian National University, Vice Chair, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)

11.55am – 12.00pm: Workshop Summary & Close

12.00pm – 1.00pm: Networking with light refreshments