David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to pay tribute to a great scientist, a great communicator and a great Canberran, the late Emeritus Professor Will Steffen. William Lee Steffen was a gifted scientist and a powerful communicator. He was kind and generous and loved by many in the science community and at the ANU. Will Steffen was an intellectual giant—a leader in climate change and earth-system science. He dedicated his career to advancing the science on climate change, and, importantly, sharing those findings with Australians and the global community. He was a world-renowned scientist, and, I believe, one of the most influential thinkers of our time. He was a contributing author and reviewer on five IPCC assessments and special reports, as well as scores of other critical scientific publications. Professor Steffen helped to advance our knowledge on the Anthropocene, planetary boundaries and tipping points.

He was a powerful leader and a cherished mentor to so many within and outside the scientific community, known for his clear, crisp communication style. His voice has been heard in classrooms and within this very building; in courts; at the United Nations; and in our homes, through the TV and the radio and on countless podcasts.

Professor Steffen has left an incredible legacy, a wealth of advice that our parliament would do well to heed. I'm pleased to echo his advice in this chamber in his honour. The climate has tipping points beyond which lies an irreversible path to a new state. Our next actions will shape the future of the earth and its inhabitants for centuries, potentially millennia. Vale, Professor Steffen.