Publications

Heating up the planet: climate change and security

Professor Alan Dupont , Dr Graeme Pearman AM

Summary

In a pathbreaking collaborative work entitled 'Heating up the Planet: Climate Change and Security', Dr Alan Dupont of the Lowy Institute and Dr Graeme Pearman, the former chief of atmospheric research at the CSIRO, canvass the international security consequences of climate change especially for Australia's Asia-Pacific neighbourhood. The Lowy Paper examines the implications of temperature increases and sea level rise for food, water, energy, infectious diseases, natural disasters and environmental refugees and asks whether scientists may have underestimated climate change risks. The paper also looks at several low probability, but high impact climate events which might push the planet past an environmental tipping point from which there will be no winners.

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China and the world: public opinion and foreign policy

The Lowy Institute has just released its first China Poll, a wide-ranging survey of Chinese public opinion towards a number of important international policy issues. By what do the Chinese people feel threatened? How do they feel about foreign investment from Australia, Canada and the United States? Which country do the Chinese people regard as the best place to be educated and what do they think of Australia - is it a good place to visit, a country with attractive values or is it suspicious of China?

The 2009 Lowy Institute China Poll asked a broad sample of the Chinese population these questions and others. The Poll was partly funded with the generous assistance of the MacArthur Foundation as part of the Lowy Institute’s MacArthur Foundation Asia Security Project.

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The 2009 Lowy Institute Poll

The fifth annual Lowy Institute Poll surveys Australian public opinion on a broad range of foreign policy issues. New questions this year cover the priority given to action on climate change, public attitudes towards relations with the US and China, foreign investment, asylum seekers, how to deal with Iran and perceptions about nuclear threats.

The Poll also repeated a number of questions asked in previous years, revealing important trends in Australian public opinion over the last five years.

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