Leading climate change expert Sophie Lewis has been appointed as the ACT's Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment, Minister Shane Rattenbury announced on Monday.
Dr Lewis was most recently a climate scientist at the UNSW Canberra, and is a lead author on a chapter for the sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Her work has focused on extreme weather events over long time frames and their relation to climate change.
"Dr Lewis has extensive experience in researching Australia's changing climate extremes, including as a lead author with the International Climate Change Panel assessment reports that are used worldwide to develop policies around climate change," Climate Change and Sustainability Minister Mr Rattenbury said on Monday.
"In 2019, Dr Lewis was the ACT Scientist of the Year in recognition of her research, particularly her research on climate extremes and their specific relevance to Canberra."
Thrilled to be stepping into the role of ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and Environment. I love Canberra, its environment and people. Advocating for our environment and raising awareness of our environmental challenges is a big responsibility that I am not taking on lightly.
— Sophie Lewis (@drsophielewis) May 4, 2020
The commissioner's role includes giving the government independent advice on management of the environment, including delivering the four-yearly State of the Environment reports.
Dr Lewis said the ACT was already a world-leader in addressing climate change, but there was still more to do.
"As we have seen with our recent extreme heat, drought and fires, climate change is a huge challenge now and for our future as it will continue to impact on our environment at local, national and international levels," she said.
"I'm particularly committed to using my role to promote the involvement of children in our environment and in finding solutions to some of our challenges."
"There is also much we can do to help children understand climate change and to involve them in taking the essential action we need to achieve zero-net emissions and have the best possible chance to preserve our environment and their future."
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