Salient

Climate Change

By Jenna Powell | 9 Jul, 2007

The University is working to establish a national climate change research institute on campus, according to a University Council document.

Deputy Vice Chancellor Neil Quigley says Victoria is the ideal site for the institute, as it is at the forefront of current research activities, has friendly and strategic relations with other universities around the world, as well as other important agencies working in the field of climate change.

The institute’s initial funding will come from within the University, to the cost of $300,000 per annum for five years “to establish the Climate Change Research Institute, allow it to hire a credible full-time director, and support some of the collaborative initiatives which will be necessary to increase the visibility of VUW as a leader in this field in New Zealand”, the document says.

The institute will work towards reducing gas emissions, lower global temperature and plan for what Quigley describes as “unavoidable consequences.”

Quigley hopes to use this research for influencing policy as well as benefiting students by including such research in their education.

In the Council document, Quigley stressed the importance of timing and insists that Victoria “will need to move quickly to lead on this”, and also reduce its own carbon footprint.

A separate report by global warming expert Dr Martin Manning says Wellington would be an ideal place for the institution, and that there are gaps in research that could only be filled by the proposed institution.