The Living Hot Project is a team of researchers and experts working on climate change adaptation and resilience. It is led by Clive Hamilton, AM, author and professor of public ethics at Charles Sturt University.
Clive Hamilton is an Australian author and public intellectual. He has been a Professor of Public Ethics at Charles Sturt University in Canberra since 2008.
We hope the Living Hot Project will represent a turning point in the development of the debate over climate change in Australia. In addition to a continuing emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions—Charles Sturt is a leader among universities in cutting its own emissions—we need to become much more focussed on how we are going to respond to the severe stresses due to global warming that we know are coming our way—in fact, that is already here.
The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that dangerous warming of the Earth is inevitable, bringing more extreme weather events along with social and economic disruptions. While we must do our fair share in cutting emissions, it is already apparent that climate change will affect our lives in Australia for generations to come.
The Living Hot Project is predicated on the fact that if Australians are to cope with the dangers ahead, we must shift our attention to a sustained program of investment in protecting the country and our way of life from the ravages of floods, bushfires, droughts, storms, cyclones, and heatwaves.
Building a resilient nation means changing how we think about the future and transforming how we live and work. Charles Sturt’s leading role in research in agriculture positions us well to support the transitions needed to ensure Australia’s food security for the decades ahead.
Global heating presents particular challenges for First Nations Peoples, especially those living in regional and remote areas. The Living Hot Project will explore the implications of the changing climate for caring for Country.
The project takes a particular interest in building resilience by local communities and local councils. Its research will shape the national conversation, not least around the effects of global warming on the most vulnerable in our communities.
Although Australia is lagging in making preparations for the changing climate, there are pockets of forward-looking activity that hold lessons for the broader community. The University’s research program will study prototypes of adaptation activity by communities, local councils, utilities, and businesses in Australia, as well as examples that might serve as models for others.
We hope that the Living Hot Project will help 'shift the dial' on the nation’s approach to the climate predicament and push us all into the next phase — beyond reducing emissions towards preparing for life in a new and less amenable climate. We know that failing to begin preparing now will cause unnecessary suffering — for all of us but particularly for those least able to protect themselves from the impacts of a changing climate.
The project will be recruiting staff in the second half of 2024.
Watch the recording of Professor Clive Hamilton and energy expert George Wilkenfeld’s groundbreaking book Living Hot (published by Hardie Grant) at the Parliament House, Canberra.
The launch of Professor Clive Hamilton and energy expert George Wilkenfeld’s groundbreaking book Living Hot at the Parliament House, Canberra. Followed by a panel discussion facilitated by Professor Stan Grant Jnr and an address by Professor Renée Leon, Vice-Chancellor of Charles Sturt University, to launch the University’s ‘Living Hot Project’.
