The event, held on June 15, was a full day of entertainment and featured engaging talks from:
●Dr Tilman Ruff OA — Founder of ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the first Australian-born organisation to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
●Prof Samantha Hepburn — Professor and researcher at Deakin University specialising in a number of areas, including the environment.
●Prof Tim Reeves — A leader in sustainable agriculture and Professor in Residence at University of Melbourne’s Dookie Campus.
Each speaker gave a presentation to the audience before introducing a film highlighting their area of expertise.
Dr Ruff kicked off proceedings with an informative talk on the work ICAN is doing, focusing on the environmental impact of nuclear weapons.
‘‘These weapons pose a threat to everything that we love, that we cherish, that sustains us, that lives and breathes in our world,’’ Dr Ruff said. ‘‘When you think of climate destruction most people think about global warming. But not enough people understand that the biggest risk to the climate, which is something that can happen very quickly, is nuclear weapons.
‘‘Nuclear weapons are very effective in igniting everything that is flammable.
‘‘The, relatively small, by today’s standards, bomb that destroyed Hiroshima released up to 1000 times more energy in the fires that followed the bomb exploding.
‘‘If a large nuclear weapon landed on Melbourne it is estimated that everything flammable over about 1600sq km would be ignited — and essentially nothing would survive.
‘‘Vast amounts of smoke would be ejected high into the atmosphere. It would spread quickly over most inhabited parts of the planet, within about 10 days or so.
‘‘The Mesosphere and Stratosphere would become very hot and everything below would become dark and cold.
‘‘And that would persist for a couple of decades.’’
Dr Ruff spoke of recent events where India and Pakistan, both nuclear nations, considered using nuclear weapons in a cross-border conflict.
While that did not happen, Dr Ruff points to the fact that if nuclear nations were considering this, it was of great concern.
And he said he felt that people were not aware that a bomb dropped in a conflict in central Asia could lead to decades of darkness for the whole world.
Dr Ruff then introduced the film System Error, a 2018 film by German director Florian Opitz.
After a short break for afternoon tea Professor Samantha Hepburn spoke about Climate Change Governance in Australia, and what our nation’s leaders needed to do to address it.
She introduced a selection of short films, inspiring talks and poems.
The final speaker for the event was Professor Tim Reeves who spoke about the importance of sustainable agriculture, before introducing the film 2040, a 2018 movie by Australian director Damon Gameau.
Festival organisers will now take a well-earned break before starting to arrange next year’s event.
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