ADELAIDE—Australian businesses are now looking at issues associated with global warming as opportunities for the future, rather than just problems, South Australian Premier Mike Rann says.
Mr Rann will open the third international solar cities congress in Adelaide tomorrow which will reveal the latest thinking on sustainable energy options.
The Premier said with experts coming from more than 30 countries, the congress would also be a forum for business.
"What a lot of people are now starting to realise is that there's a huge number of opportunities for businesses given that global warming is on us and sustainable energy is going to be part of our future," Mr Rann told AAP.
"Australian business saw the climate change agenda as a cost and as a problem rather than as an opportunity.
"I think it is now becoming increasingly aware that there are significant business opportunities in energy efficiency as well as in embracing sustainable energy and new technologies."
Among the key speakers at the three-day gathering will be Zhengrong Shi, founder of China's largest photovoltaic company, and Rajendra Pachauri from India, Cchairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which recently shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US vice-president Al Gore.
Participants will also hear from Robert F Kennedy Jr, nephew of the late US President John F Kennedy and an environmental lawyer with the Natural Resources Defence Council.
Among the delegates will be Indian student Jaswanth Madhavan who will share his ideas for harnessing wave energy to help provide future power options for his home city of Chennai.
The 16-year-old won an international competition which challenged students to redesign an existing community to make it more environmentally friendly.
His entry included a survey of local residents on their attitudes to the environment and a 142-page report on the problems facing Chennai.
Among his solutions were a proposal to generate electricity using wave energy and greater use of solar power.
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