The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is hosting this year’s “Decarbonising Australia Business Summit: Partnering with Japan on the Transition to Net Zero” event, taking place from 26 to 28 July.
The three-day summit, organised by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), brings together 350 of the largest Japanese and Australian companies and industry groups to promote partnerships toward a more sustainable planet.
Chris Bowen, the minister of climate change and energy, and Senator Tim Ayres, the assistant minister of trade and the assistant minister of manufacturing, will both give keynote addresses, the university said in a news release.
Panel discussion on UTS – Science + Industry Partnership in Action, moderated by Melissa Edwards, research director of the Centre for Business and Sustainable Development, is one of the summit sessions that will feature UTS speakers.
Richard Adamson, the founder, owner, and chief brewer of Young Henrys Brewery, and distinguished professor Peter Ralph, director of the Deep Green Biotech Hub at UTS, will be on the panel.
Additionally, a networking event will feature a UTS engineering expert working with an industry partner to combat climate change.
Julie Jupp, a professor of digital engineering at UTS, will be speaking alongside a digital technology company.
With panellists Herve Harvard, director at RAPIDO of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at UTS, and Akifumi Nagatani, general manager of the Australian Global Business, NTT, the event will include a case study of UTS and NTT on how to create significant industry or university relationships.
Tim Harcourt, industry professor and chief economist at the Institute for Public Policy Governance at UTS will serve as the moderator.
Professor Andrew Parfitt, vice chancellor of UTS, expressed his gratitude for being chosen to host the inaugural summit on behalf of the university.
The professor said the university has a demonstrated history of collaboration with government and business in Australia and abroad in fields like green energy and the reduction of carbon emissions.
“We signed an Australian-first Power Purchase Agreement with a solar farm in 2015, signed an Australian-first precinct cooling agreement in 2016, and opened an Australian-first plastic-free food court in 2019,” he said.
Professor Parfitt concluded, “Now, in hosting this important international conversation between Japan and Australia on decarbonisation, we are once again able to contribute toward a more sustainable planet.”
