Ask Me Anything: Climate Edition

Join us for a timely discussion on climate security and climate action in the Indo-Pacific with U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Climate, Rick Duke and Head of Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Kushla Munro.

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy will provide some opening remarks , followed by a Q&A moderated by ANU Alumna Sophia Hamblin Wang.

We encourage and invite students including PhDs, ECRs and young professionals to register.

Speakers

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan from 2013 - 2017. She played a critical role in the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, culminating in the historic visits of President Obama to Hiroshima and Prime Minister Abe to Pearl Harbor. She advanced the realignment of the U.S. forces in Okinawa, promoted women's empowerment in Japan, and increased student exchange. In 2017, she founded the International Poetry Exchange Project to connect students virtually in Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and the Bronx through the power of the spoken word. In November 2021, she was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, the highest honour for which foreigners are eligible, for her efforts to strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance.

Prior to her time in Japan, Kennedy was at the forefront of education reform efforts in NYC, creating public-private partnerships to promote arts education, school libraries, and performing arts spaces. She served as CEO of the Office of Strategic Partnerships at the NYC Department of Education (2002-2004), Vice Chair for the Fund for Public Schools (2002-2011), and on the Board of New Visions for Public Schools.

An attorney and author, Kennedy has published 11 New York Times best-selling books on law, civics and poetry. She is the Honorary President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. She served as a Trustee of numerous non-profit organizations, including the Carnegie Corporation, International Rescue Committee and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, as Co-Chair of the Harvard Institute of Politics, and as a Director of the Boeing Company. She is a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Law School.

Rick Duke serves as Deputy Envoy for Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. Previously, he was a consultant and Brookings Institution senior fellow. He also served as Special Assistant to President Obama, helping to craft and implement the Climate Action Plan, including defining the 2025 emissions reduction target for the Paris Agreement, spearheading an interagency push for the Kigali Amendment on HFCs to the Montreal Protocol, and authoring the U.S. Mid-Century Strategy for deep decarbonization. Previously, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary at DOE and worked at NRDC and McKinsey. He holds a PhD from Princeton.

Kushla Munro heads up the International Climate and Technology Division at the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Kushla is responsible for the delivery of the Australian Government’s climate change policy, including international engagement in multilateral fora, net zero innovation and partnerships, and international strategic climate policy.

Previously Kushla worked at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as the head of the Global Development Branch, where in 2015 she was Australia’s lead negotiator on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Kushla has also held senior roles in the Office of National Assessments and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Kushla holds a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Queensland and a Masters of Environmental Sustainability (Distinction) from the University of Edinburgh.

Moderator

Sophia Hamblin Wang is a circular economy expert, speaker, diversity advocate, and Chief Operating Officer of MCi Carbon (MCi), an Australian technology platform transforming CO2 emissions into building materials and other valuable industrial products. Sophia is a World Economic Forum (WEF) Young Global Leader, and a member of the Asia 21 Young Leaders Network Class of 2022 by the Asia Society.

Sophia grew up in Far North Queensland and completed a Bachelor of International Business with First Class Honours at the ANU College of Business and Economics. Showcasing MCi’s technology at the Australia Pavilion at COP26, Sophia won 1st Place in the Net Zero Technology Centre Pitch Battle in Glasgow. Sophia is co-founding Director of CO2 Value Australia, is a member of the Australian Capital Territory Climate Change Council and a board member of the Climate Ready Initiative. Sophia is a Lecturer at the University of Sydney Business School and was awarded Resource Innovator of the Year at the New Materials Summit in Berlin in 2018.

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