A big shout out and huge thank you to Greg Fisk, one of the first climate champions appointed by PIANC in 2020, who this year is stepping down from the role after five years of dedicated and impactful service.
Based in Brisbane, Greg has over 25 years of experience in natural hazard and climate change planning and adaptation studies with planning, transport, and conservation authorities. Greg has recently taken up a new position with the Port of Brisbane as Senior Advisor, EIS and Approvals. Prior to this he was a Senior Associate at BMT and led the firm’s global campaign related to climate risk and resilience.
Greg took up the role of inaugural Climate Champion for PIANC’s Recreational Commission in 2020. Greg believed ‘strongly in practicality in terms of climate change response; while the science is complex, the most effective responses and solutions are the ones that are best understood and owned by the people who implement them.’
The function, outcomes and impact of the roles have been a great success, says PTGCC member and AU-NZ Board Member Honorary Associate Professor Ron Cox, ‘to which our region proudly contributed through the services of Greg Fisk (RecCom) and Gildas Colleter (MarCom). Both have provided exceptional service to the community, with their Climate Champion reports always focussed and informative. Greg Fisk will be a sad loss when he steps down.’
Greg will of course continue to work for the climate! He was recently interviewed by DCN about preparing for the impacts of a changing climate.
About the climate champion roles:
The establishment of the PIANC climate champion roles across the Commissions are part of the significant legacy of Jan Brooke, Chair of PTGCC who will step down after this year’s Smart Rivers Conference in September. The main role of the climate champions has been to provide:
1) Relevant expertise on climate change issues for the work of the four Commissions – Maritime Navigation (MarCom), Inland Waterways (Incom), Environmental (EnviCom) and Recreational Navigation (RecCom)
2) A link between each Commission and its activities and PIANC’s Permanent Task Group on Climate Change (PTGCC)
3) A conduit for the flow of technical and scientific information regarding climate change within PIANC.
Both our climate champions have truly delivered on those aims!