Event Details

Where: Zoom Webinars
When: 22 February 2022 | 10am-11am AEST
Price: FREE

Climate Change and Organic Agriculture

Hosted by AOL Technical Officer Josefine Pettersson, this webinar will introduce the 2022 AOL Climate Change Series. As the peak industry body for organics in Australia, AOL has developed a series of webinars focusing on climate change in organic agriculture. These webinars will help organic operators to stay ahead of the sustainability curve and minimise the negative effects of climate change on their business to better prepare them for the future.

Climate change represents numerous future difficulties for the agricultural sector with extreme weather events already costing Australian farms on average $30,000 annually and rising (ABARES). Organic agriculture presents a growing opportunity to mitigate climate change by reducing direct and indirect sources of greenhouse gas emissions through carbon sequestration. Increasing carbon in soil is just one of the many ways farmers can mitigate the effects of climate change. Join us as we introduce the current Australian climate change situation, forecast and climate tools to equip producers with the means for efficient risk management.

AOL is excited to announce the first guest speaker, Professor Mark Howden, who will provide an introduction to the current climate situation and future predictions should there be no action on climate change. Professor Howden is a climate change expert and pioneer of greenhouse gas emission inventories.

This will be followed by Lynette Bettio, Senior Climatologist in Climate Services at the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) who will discuss the current tools available for short term and long-term weather predictions for Australian producers.

This will be the first of AOL’s Climate Change webinar series for 2022. Following this introductory webinar, AOL will provide a sector-by-sector breakdown of the potential changes organic businesses can make to be prepared for and potentially benefit from this changing climate and the carbon market. This will include webinars focusing on sectors such as Wine, Livestock, Horticulture, Cropping, Consumers and more.

Topics will include:

  • Introduction to the AOL Climate Changes series and progression
  • Long term Australian and International climatic predications
  • Forecasting predictions and climate tools to help farmers

Register at the link below to download webinar resources.

About Josefine Pettersson

Josefine Pettersson has a Masters of Organic Agriculture coupled with industry experience in both cropping and livestock. Having worked in the EU and Australia, she brings a new perspective of organic agriculture and insight to advancing opportunities of Australian producers. Having previously worked as a guide, educating tourists about climate change, she is passionate about mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through organic agricultural practices. As part of her Technical Officer role at AOL, she is focused on standards development, sustainability of production and market access to further advance the organic industry.

About Professor Mark Howden

Professor Mark Howden is Director of the Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions at The Australian National University. He is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Melbourne, a Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and is the Chair of the ACT Climate Change Council. He was on the US Federal Advisory Committee for the 3rd National Climate Assessment, was a member of the Australian National Climate Science Advisory Committee and contributes to several major national and international science and policy advisory bodies.

Mark has worked on climate variability, climate change, innovation and adoption issues for over 30 years in partnership with many industry, community and policy groups via both research and science-policy roles. Issues he has addressed include agriculture and food security, the natural resource base, ecosystems and biodiversity, energy, water and urban systems.

Mark has over 420 publications of different types. He helped develop both the national and international greenhouse gas inventories that are a fundamental part of the Paris Agreement and has assessed sustainable ways to reduce emissions. He has been a major contributor to the IPCC since 1991, with roles in the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and now Sixth Assessment Reports, sharing the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with other IPCC participants and Al Gore.

About Lynette Bettio

Lynette is a Senior Climatologist in Climate Services at the Bureau of Meteorology and has a PhD in climate science. The Climate Services section is responsible for the preparation and analysis of Australia’s climate record and provides capability for outlooks, predictions and projections. This includes the provision of routine and ad hoc information on recent climate, long term records, seasonal outlooks and long-term projections. Lynette examines and communicates on changes to Australia’s climate including long-term trends in rainfall and temperature and the interaction with extreme events. Another focus is drought across Australia and how the Bureau can best communicate and inform around this.