Australia, UC Davis host top-level conference on greenhouse gases

A major conference targeting climate-changing greenhouse gases is scheduled Tuesday at UC Davis, featuring top decision makers from Australia and the U.S.

The participants include Mary Nichols, the chair of the California Air Resources Board; Karen Lanyon, the Australian Consul-General; Mark Dreyfus, the Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency; and Terry McCarthy, the CEO of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.

Participants also include Sen. Fran Pavley, the original author of AB 32, California’s landmark law aimed at curbing greenhouse gases; Assembly Speaker John Pérez and Anthony Eggert, executive director of the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, the Environment and the Economy.

The event is being put together by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy. The conference is one of several events that are part of the 10^th annual G’Day USA Tour, in which Australian officials come to the U.S. to confer on policy issues of critical importance to both nations.

In California, the state’s first cap-and-trade auction – in which carbon emission allowances are purchased in the state-coordinated marketplace as emission controls are phased in – has received widespread attention. Australia’s new carbon tax on greenhouse gas emission also has sparked international interest. Both issues are scheduled to receive close scrutiny at the day-long event.

The gathering, which begins at 9 a.m., will be held at the UC Davis Conference Center,  550 Alumni Lane. The agenda is available here.