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It was my great privilege to deliver the second Climate and Society plenary lecture for 2012 on Climate Change Adaptation in North Korea, drawing on my academic research and observation from my recent field trip to North Korea in July.

This presentation brings an international perspective to our discussion of adaptation in “Climate and Society.”  North Korea is an excellent adaptation case study because it highlights the key variables of climate sensitivity and vulnerability to climate change impacts.  So how well equipped in North Korea to take a hit from climate change?  That depends on five key determinants: economic resources, technology, information and skills, infrastructure, and governance.

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Audio (mp3) 

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Climate and Society is a unique inter-disciplinary first year subject about climate change taught across the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering, and Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, at the Melbourne, Albury-Wodonga and Bendigo campuses.  The subject offers a multi-disciplinary analysis of the challenges brought on by climate change, incorporating basic principles from the science, economics and social science disciplines.

Dr Benjamin Habib is a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at La Trobe University, Albury-Wodonga.  He is a member of the Climate and Society teaching team and also coordinates the second/third year subject International Politics of Climate Change.  Ben is an internationally published scholar with research and teaching interests including the political economy of North Korea’s nuclear program, East Asian security, international politics of climate change. He also teaches in Australian politics and Chinese studies. Ben undertook his PhD candidature at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. He is an Asia Literacy Ambassador for the Asia Education Foundation and has worked previously for Flinders University, the University of South Australia, and the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship. He has spent time teaching English in Dandong, China, and has also studied at Keimyung University in Daegu, South Korea. Ben is involved with local community groups Wodonga and Albury Toward Climate Health (WATCH) and Albury-Wodonga Ecoportal.