A standing room only crowd attended the 2nd Biennial Ingram Colloquium on International Law and Development which was held at the Law School on 6 November. The topic for the Colloquium was Climate Change and Sustainable Development: Challenges for the Pacific.

Speakers addressed the challenges that climate change poses for the Pacific Island states, their role in the current negotiations for a post-2012 international climate regime, and the mitigation and adaptation measures that are being adopted at the regional level to respond to the climate change challenge. The development of national climate change policies in Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Tonga was discussed and a presentation on a project to provide sustainable energy services in rural Indonesia provided a practical example of the difficulties and challenges inherent in ensuring the successful implementation of development projects which also happen to meet the needs of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

During the Colloquium a number of short films commissioned by the South Pacific Environment Programme for the Climate Change Film Festival which was held in Suva, Fiji in September 2008 received their Australian debut. The films provided powerful visual representations of the issues under discussion and the challenges facing the Pacific Island States in adapting to climate change.

The Colloquium, which is funded by the Ingram Fund for International Law and Development was co-hosted by the Law Faculty`s International Law and Policy Group and the Climate Change Law and Policy Initiative.

Copies of the presentations are available at the links below.

Ingram Colloquium 2008, Introductory remarks
By Professor Rosemary Rayfuse, Faculty of Law, UNSW

Climate proofing development in Samoa
By Will McGoldrick, The Climate Institute

Regional responses to climate change in the Pacific: Meeting the challenge of sustainable development
By Kosi Latu, South Pacific Regional Environment Programme

Improving sustainability of energy service delivery in rural Indonesia using the 13A framework
By Maria Retnanestri & Hugh Outhred, Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets, UNSW

Citizens of Atlantis: Climate change, virtual nations and diasporic sovereignty
By Peter Christoff, University of Melbourne

Climate change and sustainable development in the Pacific: Challenges and prospects
By Ilona Millar, Baker & McKenzie, Sydney