Science & Pretzels - Fiona Haines
Abstract: 'Climate Change has become a matter of faith – not evidence!’ is just the most recent example of a climate sceptic’s retort to the need for significant policy measures to reduce carbon emissions. Countless hours, days, weeks and months are spent by climate scientists marshalling scientific evidence to counter such climate scepticism. Yet, despite robust rebuttal many of the arguments of sceptics continue to influence political debates, policy proposals and regulatory reform. This presentation will explore how an analysis of risk that extends beyond quantification of climate risk can help us understand the disparate sources of this traction. In particular, an understanding of human vulnerability stemming from our fundamental interdependence (socio-cultural risk) as well as the particular challenge of political risk is useful in thinking through the leverage exerted by climate sceptics. This analysis can also provide insight into ‘climate friendly’ policies that may garner similar traction.
Fiona Haines BA (Hons), PhD is Professor of Criminology in the School of Social and Political Sciences and Adjunct Professor at RegNet in the College of Asia and Pacific at ANU. She has undertaken extensive research in white collar and corporate crime, globalisation, risk and regulation. She is an internationally recognised expert in the area of regulation and compliance. Professor Haines' most recent published work includes a critical criminological analysis of financial fraud and the nature of money in the journal Theoretical Criminology as well as work, with Tim Connor of Newcastle University on abuse of human rights by sports shoe factories in Indonesia in the same journal. Her most recent bookThe Paradox of Regulation: what regulation can achieve and what it cannot published by Edward Elgar in 2011 systematically engages with the problem of regulation and risk to identify the conditions under which regulation can and cannot be effective. Her work is broad and interdisciplinary working across the social and political sciences and law as well as with colleagues in the earth sciences, economics and engineering in a collaboration that is looking at how best to manage sedimentary basins in a sustainable manner. Her major current research projects include an analysis of how to hold multinational corporations accountable for human right's abuse and the social impact of coals seam gas exploration. See more at: http://www.findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/display/person13687