Climate Change and the Dialogue of Cultures

8 October 2008
Keynote Address

Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne, Public Lecture

Climate change has rightly come to occupy centre stage in national and international politics. Most attention is currently directed to what societies and the international community should do to reduce, if not reversed, the harmful effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

In the ensuing debate diverse stakeholders have focused on the technical and economic solutions to the problem. Culture has been strangely absent in these discussions, yet is central to any viable solutions. Professor Camilleri’s lecture addresses two questions:

  • Is culture destined to be part of the problem or part of the solution?
  • How well prepared are we to bring the ‘dialogue of cultures’ and the dailogue of faiths to bear on the Great Debate?